Unity Project
by Akira the White
Summary: Kyon along with the other members of the SOS Brigade are drafted into a gaming convention by Koizumi. Surprisingly, Hisao, Kenji, and Hanako drafted by Shizune and Misha as well. The two groups head to Yagami, anxiously awaiting the competition to begin. Previously named "The SOS Brigade Student Council Game Convention".
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Set-up and Take Down**

With summer break coming down on us rapidly, one would think that the average high school student would be able to have some time off to enjoy life before being forced to cram all their summer homework a few days before classes resume.

Unfortunately for me, and perhaps for the other members of the SOS Brigade (the Saving the world by Overloading it with fun Haruhi Suzumiya Brigade), our activities don't simply end because school does. Haruhi always seemed to have something totally random and out of the world planned for us every time we get a break from school, and the summer break was no exception. As per usual, the fact that she always charges ahead and makes decision without consulting anyone else in the brigade continues to give me severe headaches. At this point though any attempts at a refusal would instantly be shot down by Haruhi on the spot. Our other club members, Itsuki Koizumi, Yuki Nagato, and Mikuru Asahina never seem to be able to object to Haruhi either, leaving me as the sole opposing voice to her wild schemes that never seem to end well for me. This time however, things got a bit more interesting than usual.

The previous day…

"Does anyone have any plans for summer break this year?" Haruhi's atypically loud voice rocked the clubroom like a magnitude 7 earthquake.

At that very moment, Koizumi and I were playing Othello, Miss Asashina was wearing her maid costume making more tea, and Nagato was seated in the corner of the room reading a hardcover novel. Haruhi's sudden outburst didn't help with the fact that I was still trying to recover from my receiving my grades today. Haruhi's constant blabbering always managed to prevent me from enjoy Miss Asahina's tea and just forgetting the world.

Haruhi marched over, puffed up her chest, and looked down on me. "Kyon, you can't have any plans in mind, but the others might. So I figured I'd ask everyone."

I take a sip from my teacup before turning to the Queen of the Bridage. "And what if I have plans? What if I was visiting my relatives in the countryside?"

Haruhi's smile widened. "That means you don't have any plans, right? Didn't the same thing happen for our Christmas party?"

Bringing up that Christmas party only serves as a reminder that I nearly got sent to the morgue trying to return the world to the way it was. With that said, it wasn't all too bad of an experience.

Nodding self-indulgingly just like the last time this happened, Haruhi quickly moved onto the next person. Hey, I haven't answered yet, just like last time!

"Mikuru?" Haruhi turned to the SOS Brigade's exclusive maid.

"I don't think so. I haven't had anything planned yet. Would you like some tea, Miss Suzumiya?"

"That herb tea from a while back would be nice. Extra hot, okay?"

"Yes, right away!" Miss Asashina went to go set the kettle on the portable stove with a beaming face. The way she looks so focused when she's making tea is relaxing for me to watch.

"Yuki!" Haruhi smiled down at Nagato, who was still reading her hardcover.

"None." Nagato didn't even look up from her book. That was fast.

"Hey wait." I pointed my finger at the Yes-man of the SOS Brigade sitting across from me. "Why didn't you ask this guy if he had plans?"

"That's because…" Haruhi sat down at her desk, and pulled out a spare armband. "Koizumi here is the one who's got something planned for the SOS Brigade!"

"Yes, that's right." Koizumi's smile reminds me of the Cheshire cat for some reason. "It just so happens that an acquaintance of mine has set up some sort of a video gaming convention aimed at a few high school students from Japan. They're providing free lodging as well as meals for us, so all we have to do is attend. The convention itself will have no more than 50 members, but the exact number of people attending right now is uncertain. The event itself is four days and three nights."

That sounds awfully suspicious Koizumi, especially considering the fact that you introduced that entire remote island vacation idea to us in the exact same manner. The last thing I need is to go through another one of those messed up murder mysteries you and your shady organization brew up for us.

"And, there you have it!" Haruhi didn't mind at all, much to my chagrin. "This video game convention will give us a chance to shine! If we're lucky, we might even be able to convince some of the students there into joining us, and then we can branch off to places all over Japan!"

Now you're making it sound like we're some kind of secret service force trying to plant sleeper agents all over Japan. To make it perfectly clear, I have no intention in backing up an attempt at a revolution.

"So…" I flipped over two of Koizumi's pieces. "When and where is this so called convention happening again?"

"It starts the day after tomorrow, in a city called Yagami." Koizumi quickly flipped over four of my pieces. "I've never heard of it before, so I'm looking forward to visiting."

"The day after tomorrow!" I whipped around to glare at Haruhi. Typical Haruhi behaviour, which I should've expected, but I still can't contain my frustration that I would need to pack my bags on such short notice.

"Yeap!" Haruhi stood up with her hands on her hips, and an armband that read "Commanding Officer". "And if you don't show up, Kyon, heads will roll!"

I sighed in exasperation. I don't want to lose my head. At the same time, packing things up and going out of town again feels like an unnecessary strain on my already battered mental state. Haruhi asking us if we had plans or not would seem like being considerate, but the fact that she just soldiers on ahead and doesn't heed our opinions totally negates that.

"Miss Suzumiya, your tea." Miss Asahina appeared beside Haruhi with her maid-like smile. I feel like I could easily sit here for hours watching her in that outfit. That train of thought is of course derailed as soon as Haruhi overshadowed Miss Asahina.

"Thanks, Mikuru." Haruhi took the cup in her usual high spirits, and stood there gulping down tea.

"Another thing, Koizumi." I shoot Koizumi a very annoyed look. He deserves it. "What sort of games are we playing there anyways?"

"I have no idea." Koizumi shrugged, still maintaining his usual smile. That answer only served to piss me off more.

"So we're just blindingly marching into it and hoping that we win?" I flipped over five of Koizumi's pieces in some sort of retaliation.

"If we do win." Koizumi calmly flipped over seven of my pieces. Damn, I should've seen that coming. "We also win a copy of a very expensive video game creating and animation software. I think its well worth it. It'll also prevent Miss Suzumiya from being bored for a while, so our organization won't have to deal with any closed space."

"Are you and your organization planning something sneaky like last time?" I had no choice but to skip my turn this time. It's only adding to my increasingly intense feeling of annoyance.

Koizumi held up his hands, trying to look innocent. "You have my word that the organization isn't involved at all this time. In fact, I barely even know the person who invited us." He then proceeded to end the game with one crisp movement. Black pieces reigned all across the board. "He also told me that he would be there to greet us personally. I think you'll like it. You are into video games, right?"

Don't 'right' me. Even if I like video games, the fact remains that this will be an SOS Brigade event, all thanks to you. In my books, the SOS Brigades activities have always resulted in hefty clean-up work from both of us. I'd figured that you'd be tired of unnecessary work by this time.

"Alrighty!" Haruhi finished her tea, and systematically scanned us like a security guard. Her smile seemed rather out of place for a security guard though. "That's all for today! I'll be heading back to get my things ready. Be sure to show up at the station! Last person there gets to play a penalty game!" Grabbing her bag, Haruhi left the clubroom as quickly as she came.

Koizumi and I decided to have one more go at Othello. After we were finished the game, Nagato shut her hardcover, which was the signal for us to start leaving. Since Miss Asahina still had to change out of her maid costume, Koizumi and I went on ahead along with Nagato.

"Hey, Nagato."

"What?" She continued walking straight ahead without facing me.

"The day after tomorrow, would it be possible for you remove our means of transportation so we won't be able to go?"

"It can be done." Nagato said in her usual monotone. "But I would strongly advise against it."

"Yea, and why's that?"

"The chances of closed space being created will increase significantly if that happens. As a result, this world would be in danger of being destroyed." Nagato turned to face me. The short haired pseudo-alien's eyes pieced into me like rifle bullets, reinforcing to me that stopping Haruhi was a bad idea.

"I guess we'd better not do anything, then?"

Nagato nodded. "Right." That effectively wrapped up our short chat, and crushed any attempts at me trying to get out of this trip.

….

So now, here I am, grudgingly packing whatever necessities I needed in preparation for another long and probably exhausting journey with the SOS Brigade. Though the mention of video games does pique my interest, I'm still worried about the fact that Koizumi was the one who set us up for it. If this turns out to be anything like that remote island fiasco, I will strangle Koizumi as soon as we get back.

I sighed, tossing a few clothes together and stuffing them into my bag. There really isn't much I can do about it now except concede and be swept along by the tsunami that is Haruhi Suzumiya. Though I did consciously make the decision to stay with the Haruhi of this world, I still have a right to be annoyed at what she does some times, especially if it's stuff that I can't back out of without letting the world suffer for it. It's like the world depends on me to keep Haruhi in check, since the other three members of the SOS Brigade never deviate from what Haruhi expects of them. It's something I would take pride in, except for the fact that it always ends up draining me of nearly all my hit points by the end of whatever we do. Though today seems to be a nice day to take a walk, Haruhi's abrupt announcement soured my mood enough to make me push aside that thought. I guess I'll just wait till tomorrow, and make sure that I get enough sleep to not show up last. My wallet doesn't have sufficient funds to deal with whatever punishment Haruhi felt like dishing out at me if I did have to play the penalty game.

I'd also have to apologize for ranting on and on and making this a long prologue, but I don't have the energy to make it sound any more formal. To sum it up, the SOS Brigade has found itself drafted into yet another four days and three nights out of town because Haruhi was…well…bored.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Terms and Provisions**

"Late! Penalty!" That was the first thing to greet me as I made my way over to the airport entrance.

Haruhi's overly enthusiastic smile added to the list of things that were making me depressed. Waking up at 8:00 AM was a struggle for me, and just simply getting over to the airport on time was hard enough.

"Why don't you penalize this guy?" I stick my thumb out at Koizumi, who happened to be standing behind me. "He's later than I am."

Haruhi shrugged casually. "He's deputy chief, and exempt from the same penalty you have."

This some sort of dictatorship where select individuals are above the law, huh? I won't bother arguing…maybe I'll get Koizumi to cover the cost partially somehow. I really don't have that much money on me right now.

I took a quick look at the other members of the SOS Brigade. Haruhi sported a orange tank top and blue shorts; Miss Asahina was dressed in a white sleeveless one-piece dress with a light blue knitted shirt on top, which was very reminiscent of what she wore during the first SOS Brigade mystery search a year ago; Koizumi was decked out in a white dress shirt and jeans; and Nagato, for one reason or another, simply wore a hooded cloak over her North High Uniform. I also noticed something particularly odd: Nagato was wearing glasses. I'm sure she stopped wearing glasses over a year ago due to my suggestion that she looked better without them. I'd be willing to bet if I could get a snapshot of either Miss Asahina or Nagato with a camera I could sell the picture to Taniguchi for a good price, even if Nagato is just wearing her usual uniform with a hood on top of it. I'll ask about Nagato's glasses later. For now though, there's a bigger problem at hand.

"What's the penalty you speak of?"

I usually don't ask questions I don't want the answer to, but even if I didn't ask Haruhi would have forced me to do some sort of punishment, so I guess I might as well figure out what I need to do.

"You're going to buy food for all of us during our commute. I'll be letting you off easy this time." Haruhi pointed her index at me as she handed down my sentence.

Damn, I really don't think I can afford this…

"Understood." I didn't voice my previous sentiment though. Haruhi wouldn't take no for an answer anyways. I leaned over towards Koizumi and lowered my voice to a whisper. "You wouldn't happen to have some extra cash on you, would you?"

"I do." Koizumi took out his wallet and showed me a few 10000 yen notes. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't think I brought enough to deal with Haruhi's penalty game. Lend me a hand, would you?"

"Well, it depends on how much you need." Koizumi smiled innocently. "Frankly speaking, I'd like to keep some to myself to buy souvenirs."

I won't even have enough for napkins if you don't bail me out here. Besides, you owe me as much for keeping Haruhi in check for you for so long.

"Well." Koizumi handed one 10000 yen note to me. "I will want the change back for that. Don't forget about it."

"Thanks." I quickly pocketed the note and made a mental note to return whatever change was left to Koizumi.

"Right then!" Haruhi picked up her luggage. "Let's head over to the lobby and check in!" She was so psyched she could hardly wait for the automatic doors to open.

I sighed, and picked up my bag. "Miss Asahina, would you like me to carry your things as well?"

"Uh, no thanks." Miss Asahina winked at me. "I can take of it myself."

"…" Nagato didn't say a word and simply followed Haruhi. In her hand was a small bag, probably not nearly as heavy as the massive handbag that Haruhi had been carrying.

I decided to sit back on a nearby sofa and let Koizumi and Haruhi take care of the business part of the flight.

So I'm guessing that this is a trip just for the sake of having a trip again. It's the first day of summer vacation, just like what Koizumi did with the remote island vacation. That isn't helping with my growing suspicion that Koizumi is pulling some strings again to get this to work. What concerns me even more is Koizumi's apparently lack of familiarity with the host. It could be a way he's avoiding having me put two and two together like with the last trip. During that incident, he claimed that his host had been a distant relative of his.

Miss Asahina walked over to me and sat down beside me. "This is the first time I've ever ridden an airplane…"

It happens to be my first time riding an airplane as well. Just how far away is this Yagami place if we have to take an airplane to get to it?

"Preparations have been made." Koizumi returned to us with his usual smile. "We can start boarding right now, as a matter of fact. There will be a security check before we can proceed and that all there is to it."

"Right then." I pick up my bag. "Shall we get going?"

"Y-yes!" Miss Asahina bolted up and took her bag as well.

"…" Nagato nodded, but didn't make an audible sound.

And so, we headed up the nearby escalators and headed for the boarding platform. Before we could get to the platform though, we had to pass through the security check that Koizumi had mentioned. We all took turns standing like mannequins while the security guards scanned us over with some sort of baton, which was probably a metal detector, and the process after was a pat-down search to make sure that none of us were trying to smuggle anything onto the plane. Haruhi was adamantly against a pat-down search however, so the guards had to work around that as well. I'm pretty sure the process should've taken a minute. With Haruhi being Haruhi though, it took about five times as long, since the guards had to obtain a scanner that normally wouldn't have been needed.

"I can't believe they'd do something like that!" Haruhi quickly glared back at the guards before puckering up her lips like a duck's bill. "I'm surprised people don't feel violated having those guards touch them like that!"

That's because it's a security check. Key term in that phrase is security. I'm pretty sure airport security has been even tighter in the last few years just to avoid unpleasant incidents. The airport isn't going to loosen its security just for you, you know.

When we finally did reach the boarding platform though, we got a good view of the plane we were boarding. It was a Boeing 767-300ER from the looks of it, and it had the Japan Airlines logo on the side of it. The sheer size of the plane was enough to make me halt my stride for a moment just to take in the sight it. First real airplane I've even seen. I'm used to seeing aircraft on television, but I've never been in front of one to actually make the comparison of the size of an airplane to a human.

"Oh...Wow…" Asahina's eyes became as wide as trays. "How does that huge thing fly in the air?"

Uh, besides the principles of aerodynamics like lift and drag, I can't really think of another way an airplane can fly. Once again, I have to question if people teach Physics in Miss Asahina's time.

"Lift…? Drag…?" Miss Asahina blinked twice and looked at me with a blank face. I could visualize question marks coming out of her head in every direction.

"Forget it." I don't think I know enough about the subject to explain it.

"Kyon, Mikuru! What are you doing? It's time to board!" Haruhi shouted loudly at us from halfway across the boarding ramp. Nagato and Koizumi were right behind her.

Guess it's time for us to go, huh?

….

Once on the plane, Haruhi made me suffer the aforementioned punishment of having to buy everyone food. It just so happened that everyone wanted snacks. Fortunately for me, the money that Koizumi gave me earlier was more than enough. While everyone else quietly enjoyed their snacks, Haruhi and Koizumi were talking about the specifics of the trip.

"How much longer till we get there?"

"It'll be about three hours until we're off this airplane. When we arrive at the airport in Yagami, a taxi will be waiting to pick us up. We'll then be heading to our lodgings to unpack our belongings first before we have the opening ceremonies, so to speak."

"What are our accommodations like?" Haruhi asked.

"As far as I know…" Koizumi took a quick bite out of his snack bar. "Each five-member team will be given separate lodgings. Each has three bedrooms, two full sized washrooms, a kitchen, dining room, as well as a game room. Food is served on an order basis. I haven't actually seen the location yet, so I'm not exact sure what it's like."

"You said a game room right?" Haruhi perked up. "What sort of games are we talking about here?"

"From what I can gather, the game room has five gaming desktops, as well as a billiard table, a table tennis set, as well as miscellaneous board games."

"Hmm." Haruhi nodded with satisfaction. "Those gaming computers will be invaluable. Everyone better sharpen their gaming skills! I won't accept defeat!"

When did Haruhi become a video game freak? I wasn't even aware of the fact she even played video games until the Computer Research Society challenged us that one time. As usual, she shows enthusiasm simply because she thinks she can win, regardless of whether she has any experience or not in our means of competition.

"By the way…" Koizumi turned to face me. "I called my acquaintance for a few details. He says that there are a total of six games that we can choose from: Counter Strike, Halo Combat Evolved, Starcraft, Need for Speed Underground 2, Super Smash Brothers Melee, and Time Crisis 3. He also said that the prize has been changed. Now, it's an Intel Pentium 4E Processor and a cheque for 100000 yen. The games will play out in a tournament style."

Well, even if we had won, the software probably wouldn't have been used. The 100000 yen sounds much more enticing than that. However…

"I think I only knew one game out of all of those you listed." Super Smash Brothers is pretty well known. "Are we only choosing one game?"

"No." Koizumi flicked his hair elegantly. "We have to choose three games to participate in. The winner will be determined by which team has the most wins by the end. And that's not counting the tie-breakers yet. Also, some games don't allow for a full team to participate, so we need to choose members to represent us."

Now it's just gotten a whack load more complicated. We'll see how this goes.

"And I've already decided on which games we're going to do!" Haruhi stuck a piece of paper right in front of my face. She might as well have slapped me in the face with it.

I took the piece of paper and examined the list.

"Counter Strike…Time Crisis 3…and Starcraft?" I read the list aloud.

"Yeap!" Haruhi's triumphant smiled weighed down on me. She looks like she thinks she's already won.

"Allow me to explain each of the games." Koizumi took the list out of my hands. "Counter Strike is an objective based first person shooter. The game plays through two matches, in which teams alternate between a terrorist and counter-terrorist team. There are two games types: Hostage rescue and search and destroy." Koizumi proceeded down the list. "Time Crisis 3 is a rail shooter that allows two people to team up and proceed through the game together. In the case of our convention, the objective will be to see which team lasts the longest with only two continues. Starcraft is a real-time strategy game. You can take control of one of three races. Your objective is to create a stable economy, build combative units, and destroy all your opponents' bases."

"…" I scratch my head. "Telling me about the game is nice, but that doesn't teach me how to play the game."

"Don't worry!" Haruhi assured me. "We'll learn as soon as we get there! We'll trample the competition until they can't stand anymore!"

Where are you getting that confidence from? Give me some. I want it. You didn't choose any of the games that I know, and I have no clue how to play any of the ones you've chosen. I look over at Nagato, who was presently reading her hardcover. Now's a good time to ask.

"Hey, Nagato." I slid over to where she was sitting.

"What?"

"Why are you wearing glasses?"

Nagato didn't look up from her book. She flipped a page. "Request."

"Request?" I echoed. Request for what?

Nagato finally turned to face me. Her ebony eyes met mine. "I was requested to wear my glasses."

"By who?" I can't think of anyone who'd ask for that. Not even Haruhi has requested Nagato to wear her glasses since she stopped wearing them.

Nagato looked at Koizumi. Seriously? Koizumi put her up to this? "Here, gimme a second…" I leave Nagato reading, marched over to Koizumi and pulled him aside.

"What's the matter?" Koizumi asked.

"Why'd you make Nagato wear glasses?" My inquiry was met with a shrug and an innocent looking smile.

"My acquaintance specifically asked Miss Nagato to wear glasses. My guess is as good as yours for the reason why."

So his acquaintance wanted Nagato to wear glasses? How in the world does he know her when I don't even know him?

"I'm sure he'll explain everything in due time." Koizumi patted me on the shoulder. "Just try to relax until we're there, okay?"

Relax. Yea, that'd be nice. This new revelation has sort of made me worried though. If this acquaintance knows about Nagato, what's to say he doesn't know about the rest of the SOS Brigade? The question that would follow then would be how much does he know? To be quite honest, Koizumi's organization or the Data Integration Sentient Entity seemed like the only groups that would be so knowledgeable about the SOS Brigade.

I returned to my seat. Maybe some sleep will be the best way to get my mind off of things. I take one last look at Miss Asahina looking out the side window at the clouds before I close my eyes and doze off.

….

"…on….Kyon…Kyon!"

Startled, I sat up straight to find a camera lens in front of me.

Flash!

"Gah…" I rubbed my eyes. That flash really hurt.

The camera panned away to reveal Haruhi, who had a mischievous grin on her face.

"What do you think you're doing?" I wiped drool off the side of my face and checked my wrist watch. I had been asleep almost three hours.

"We're getting off the plane!" Haruhi puffed up her chest. "You were still sleeping, so I wanted to document your tardiness for future generations of the SOS Brigade to see. It isn't right to keep the rest of us waiting just so you can nap!"

"You could've just woken me without the camera." I slowly got to my feet. Nagato, Miss Asahina, and Koizumi's seats were already empty. I guess I would've earned a trip right back if Haruhi hadn't woken me up.

"Come on!" Haruhi grabbed my wrist and started pulling me away.

I barely managed to grab my bag before Haruhi pulled me all the way to the exit ramp. Koizumi, Nagato, and Miss Asahina were already there, taking in the sights.

"Wow…you can see mountains from here!" A small breeze came, making Miss Asahina's hair fly up a bit. She looks really cute right now.

"Hey, Kyon." Haruhi snapped me out of my sightseeing. "You're not thinking anything strange, are you?"

"No—pe."

"Alright everyone." Koizumi clapped his hands. "We should probably get going. Our transportation is awaiting us at the terminal exit."

Awaiting us in front of a taxi van was a boy with short silver hair, about the same age as us. His choice of attire wasn't too different for Koizumi, minus the fact that he was wearing black dress pants. Also, he had a black headband that he wore slightly tilted so it obstructed his left eye.

"Hishikawa." Koizumi waved to greet the boy.

"Ah, glad to see that you're all able to attend." The boy bowed, and the stood straight up like a butler. "I am Nara Hishikawa. Please to make your acquaintance."

Haruhi stepped forward. "We're very grateful you could invite us here. It's an honour to be able to participate in your gaming convention. On behalf on everyone, I'd like to express my gratitude."

Her voice was really different. It was like she was reciting a speech of some kind. She's passing herself off as a really nice girl to this Nara person, but maintaining that nice girl act isn't something she's going to do well. It's like that time we met the Tamaru brothers.

"Haha…" Nara offered a hand to Haruhi. "I'm very happy to hear that. Thank you for attending."

Haruhi took his hand and shook it.

"Miss Nagato." Nara turned his attention to Nagato. "I'm glad that you were kind enough to accept my request."

Nagato's head bobbed up and down, but she didn't say anything.

"I'll be transporting you to your lodgings, as well as answering any questions you may have regarding our convention." Nara motioned to the van behind him. "Oh, also, you may refer to me as GM Nara, as I am overseeing the competition as well." Nara then proceeded to open the door to the van. "I'll put your luggage in back if you want."

"Thank you." Haruhi handed her massive handbag to Nara, and boarded the van. Koizumi followed suit.

I handed my bag to Nara as well. "Thanks."

"No problem." Nara winked at me with his one visible eye. "If you have anything you need, feel free to ask."

Yea, actually, there is something I want to ask you, but that will have to wait until later. "Right."

Once everyone had boarded the van, and fastened their seat belts, Nara placed our luggage at the back of the van and got into the driver's seat.

"Hey wait." I stopped him. "You're the driver?"

"Yes." Nara nodded. "Don't worry. I'm paid to do this kind of thing."

"No, that isn't what I meant…"

I was more concerned about our safety, since it seems like he'll only be driving with one eye.

"Don't worry." Koizumi's voice came from behind to reassure me.

I sat back down in my seat uneasily. I pray that we live through this.

"Alright." Nara raised his headband, revealing his other eye. "Let's get going then."

That sight would have been enough to reassure me that we were safe, but when he raised his headband, I noticed that the iris of his left eye was a deep crimson colour, almost like blood.

He stepped on the accelerator, and the van began its journey out of the airport.

…..

As we drove through the town, I looked left and right to get a view of the scenery here. It wasn't quite a metropolis, but there were plenty of big buildings at the heart of the city. I also noticed that there was quite a bit more greenery in Yagami than I had previously imagined. It didn't seem too different from home.

"So, I wanted to ask something." Haruhi unfastened her seatbelt and leaned over the driver's seat. That looks sort of dangerous.

"Go right ahead." Nara made a right turn.

"How will the tournament part of the convention play out?"

Nara clicked his tongue. "It's quite simple. We have eight teams of five high school students. The teams will vote on three games to compete in. There, you will compete against the other teams in the three games that have been chosen. You'll play every team once. The official start of the convention is tomorrow. After the first two days, the four teams with the most wins will advance into another tournament styled competition, with the games being selected at random. The winner of that will receive the prize. I sent Koizumi a list of the games that we have this year, so you can look it over."

"Alright." Haruhi leaned back against her seat and refastened her seatbelt. She seemed to be thinking about something, and didn't say anything for the remainder of the trip. It also seems like Koizumi was slightly wrong about the way the competition would play out, but I kept that to myself.

After another 20 minutes, our van pulled up in front of a series of one story houses. I guess these will be our lodgings for the duration of this convention.

"Here we are." Nara parked the van in front of one of the houses. It wasn't quite like a mansion, but it was much larger than an average house.

"Whoa…" Koizumi stepped out of the van to admire the house. "That looks pretty big, doesn't it?"

"Haha…" Nara shrugged. "Sorry, but this is actually one of the smaller ones. We couldn't get you a bigger one since you were the last ones to confirm attendance."

"It's no problem." Haruhi examined the house. "Can we go inside?"

"Of course." Nara handed Haruhi a set of keys. "Go right ahead. I'll bring your luggage inside as well."

"Thanks." Haruhi twirled the keys in her hand and headed towards the doorway.

"…" Miss Asahina was frozen on the spot. "We're living in that house?"

"Yes. It's quite grand, isn't it?" Koizumi casually placed a hand on Miss Asahina's shoulder. She didn't even seem to notice.

"Guys, come on!" Haruhi called from the doorway. "Let's take a look around!"

"We're coming." Koizumi and Miss Asahina joined Haruhi at the doorway, and then the three of them proceeded to explore the house.

I stood outside and waited for Nara to unload our stuff. I still needed to ask him something.

"Nagato, you go on ahead."

"Understood." Nagato did as I said. Looking at her from behind, it looks like she's floating through the air like a ghost. It's sort of creepy to watch.

"Kyon, was it?" Nara walked over with our luggage in both arms. "You can go and check the place out. I can carry these for you guys."

"Here, let me help." I take Haruhi's bag, Miss Asahina's bag, and my own.

"Thank you." Using his free hand, Nara brought his headband back down, concealing his left eye along with its red iris.

The two of us walked towards the house. "I wanted to ask something. Why did you want Nagato to wear glasses?"

Nara paused mid-step momentarily. He grinned like a five-year old kid and resumed his stride. "Two reasons. One, because I wanted to see what she looked like in glasses. The second reason I want to keep to myself."

"You seem familiar with her. How do you know her?"

We deposited the luggage in the house's main lobby. Nara wiped his hands on his shirt and crossed his arms. "Koizumi told me about you guys a few months ago. To be honest, he and I were in the same middle school, but eventually we both went separate ways. I don't even live in the same city as him anymore, as you can probably tell."

"Yea, I figured." I look around. The house is really spacious and clean. The interior décor seemed to be styled like a North American house.

"Well…" Nara checked his watch. "I'll be leaving you guys for a while then. I'll visit in the evening, but right now I have another team I need to pick up. If there's any sort of food or snacks you guys want, use that phone and dial the number indicated. They'll deliver it to you."

He put his hand on the doorknob, and then leaned back and whispered to me, "Tell you a secret. The people I'm picking up right now are friends of mine. I'll introduce them to you when I get back. You'll have to compete against them anyways, so we might as well get acquainted."

He then stepped outside and closed the door, leaving me to survey the house again. I took off my shoes and explored the first floor a bit. Just like Koizumi said, there was a dining room and kitchen, as well as a washroom with a shower stall and bathtub. Eventually, I found a door leading to what appeared to be the basement. I turned on the lights and headed downstairs. I think I've found the game room. Turning on the lights here, I found five desktops neatly arranged, with keyboards, gaming mice, steering wheels, and reclining chairs. Looking over to the right, I saw a billiard table and table tennis set. Looking left, I noticed a few gaming consoles attached to TVs as well as random board games arranged onto a shelf. It's a nice sight to see. At the very least, I guess we can unwind here for a few days. It'll probably get my mind off my marks for a while.

It was at that moment I heard loud shouting upstairs. It didn't take a genius to figure out that it was Haruhi. She'd probably found something that interested her. Not taking the chance of her breaking something in our first day here, I quickly shut off all the lights and ran upstairs to the bedrooms. I found Haruhi bouncing up and down on a bed in the largest bedroom, with Miss Asahina watching like a scared bunny rabbit and Nagato sitting on another bed reading a book.

"Whee! This place is pretty awesome! Mikuru, come on! Try it!"

"Hey, Haruhi!" I quickly decided to put an end to this. "This isn't our stuff. Are you a grade schooler? Don't go around breaking things when we've just gotten here!"

"What are you talking about?" Haruhi sat up straight. Her lips pouted into waterfowl status. "I haven't broken anything."

"He does have a point, Miss Suzumiya." Miss Asahina backed me up on this one. It's actually pretty bold of her to oppose Haruhi openly. "I don't think it's right for us to do things like that to other people's property."

Haruhi looked at both of us, before huffing and turning away. "Fine."

Just then, I noticed that Koizumi was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd Koizumi go?"

"He went to go check out the other rooms. You should go find him."

I decided to do just that. Koizumi wasn't hard to find. He was standing inside the bedroom adjacent to Haruhi's.

"This looks like it's suitable, don't you think?" Koizumi sat down on one of the two beds.

"Am I supposed to share a room with you?"

Koizumi shrugged. "Only if you want to. There is another bed room if you want it. I'm fairly sure Miss Suzumiya and the girls are sharing that room. By the way, I'd like my change."

"Oh, right…" I took the change out of my wallet and handed it to Koizumi.

There were three beds in that room after all, so I'm not too surprised. I deliberated whether I should share a room with Koizumi or not. That wasn't much of a riddle. "I guess I'll take the next room then. Our stuff is downstairs, and I'd like it if you could give me a hand with it."

"Roger that." Koizumi stood up. "Shall we?"

The two of us headed downstairs, picked up the luggage, left Haruhi, Miss Asahina, and Nagato's bags in their room, and took our stuff to our respective rooms. I decided to check out my room. One bed, a window, a nightstand, a lamp, a digital clock, a tissue box, a garbage can, and a painting of some sort were present. It was a rather bland setup, but I guess I can deal with it. I set my stuff down on the bed. Looking to my right, there was also a closet.

"So." Koizumi's voice drew my attention back to the doorway. "Would you like to go try out some of the games?"

I checked my watch. 3:00 PM. There was still plenty of time to kill. "Yea, that's a good idea."

We went downstairs to the game room, and surveyed the options laid out before us. Koizumi suddenly approached one of the game consoles. "Let's try this one." He held up a game. Its cover read "Panzer Dragoon: Orta".

"Alright, let's give it a shot."

Koizumi turned on the console and popped the game inside. Then, he handed me a manual. "You should probably learn how to play first. I've tried this one before, so I have a general idea of how to play."

"Right then." I opened the manual. "You go first."

Mysterious music filled the game room as the game's main menu appeared before us.

"Let's see…" Koizumi took one of the controllers. "I guess I'll try the story mode."

I read through the manual quickly. Press A to fire, hold down A and scan targets before releasing to use some sort of a homing attack, press forward and B to speed up, press…Yea, I think I get the gist of it. I looked up to see how Koizumi was fairing. Watching the gameplay, Koizumi was controlling a dragon, and either firing green orbs or light or blue lasers at enemies to destroy them. At the same time, he also used the trigger buttons to switch the camera position to find enemies, and also used the thumbstick to navigate around obstacles. It had only been a couple of minutes, but I could see that Koizumi was already at red health.

"What difficulty is this on?"

"Haha…" Koizumi fired a few more lasers. "It's on normal difficulty."

He's on normal difficulty and at red health in the first few minutes? It's no wonder why the people who organized this gaming convention chose this game as a potential candidate. People will get dropped so quickly.

Another minute later, Koizumi was presented with a game over screen. "Well…" Koizumi handed me the controller. "Let's see you try it. It's actually quite fun."

"Alright…" I navigated to the continue button and pressed A. I was taken back to the start of the game. Let's give this a whirl then…

….

20 minutes and 13 deaths later, I found myself hard-pressed to go to the continue button again. I sighed and put the controller aside. "This game is really hard…"

"Indeed." Koizumi took the controller. "That is partly the reason why they selected this game as one of the possible tournament games."

I already figured that out, thank you.

On this run, Koizumi finally reached the boss of the first stage, but didn't have the skill to finish off the boss the first time. After depleting half of the boss's HP gauge, Koizumi's dragon was obliterated, and he was forced to start again. Only after about the seventh try did Koizumi actually successfully beat the boss. At the end of the stage, we were presented a ranking of F. I'm guessing this is grading system has F as the lowest and S as the highest. It's not a surprise though, since Koizumi and I used about 22 continues combined.

"That was rather challenging, but definitely fun." Koizumi chuckled put down the controller.

I would agree. I found the game to be rather fun as well, but I'm almost certain that the difficulty is sure to turn off some players.

"Heya!"

Haruhi had come down to join us, with the other two members of the SOS Brigade in tow.

"Whatcha guys playing? Let me have a turn."

Please don't, Haruhi. If you become frustrated at not being able to beat the first mission like Koizumi and me, that'll cause problems for the rest of us.

Surprisingly though, Haruhi didn't struggle with the game nearly as much as Koizumi and I had. Though she did get hit a couple of times and didn't make flawless run, she beat the stage in only 8 minutes without using a single continue. Her ranking was an A.

Haruhi tapped the controller with gusto. "This game is really fun! It's much better than the one that the Computer Research Society made!"

It seems Haruhi won't be frustrated with not being able to progress in the game, at least for a short while. While Haruhi was busy destroying all manners of creatures with her dragon, Miss Asahina and Koizumi decided to play some racing game on the gaming desktops. With the sound system they used and the steering wheels, it was probably a realistic racing simulation. Nagato, as expected, kept herself busy by reading her hardcover. I'm tempted to try and get her to at least try a game. Since she's on our side, we'd be guaranteed to win if she can play all the games.

…

"Whew, I'm hungry." Haruhi checked the nearby clock. It was about 6:00 PM now. By this time, Haruhi had already reached the third last stage of that dragon game.

"I guess I'll take care of that. Give me a moment." Koizumi stood up and went upstairs.

For now, I'll assume he knows how to order food. At the very moment, I happened to be playing Counter Strike on one of the computers against easy computer players, and I'm still getting whipped around. Five kills and 17 deaths. This is rather demoralizing. I considered myself to be at least a decent gamer right up until this point.

A few minutes later, Koizumi came back downstairs. "They'll have something delivered for us in a few minutes. Until then, let's continue."

Indeed, 10 minutes later, the doorbell rang. "Please wait here a moment. I'll call you up." Koizumi headed upstairs again. A minute later, he called us upstairs. Shutting off the console and computers, everyone else headed upstairs to the dining room.

The meal looked rather extravagant. I find it really hard to believe that the people who organized this event really had the money to pay for food like this for all the teams here. The dishes were a mix of Japanese and Western cuisine. Once again, I'm reminded of the time we went to that remote island vacation that Koizumi planned for us.

"Let's eat before it gets cold." Koizumi noticed us all staring at the food in anticipation, but being somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of food in front of us. "Would anyone like something to drink?" Koizumi also motioned towards a few boxes of soft drinks lying near the dining table. Upon receiving everyone's consent, Koizumi handed everyone a can of Cola.

As usual, Haruhi and Nagato set the pace for eating. Large portions of everything Koizumi had ordered disappeared from their plates as quickly as they took them from the platters on the dining table. I should try recommending these two to a food eating contest sometime. I picked at the food at a steady pace. It was really good. If I had to compare this to the school cafeteria, I'd say that this is over a hundred times better. I guess this is what they mean when they say food is heaven. Similar to the that time we stayed over at the mansion on the remote island, Asahina's eyes widened further every time she took a bite out of something. Koizumi was going at about the same pace I was.

After we were done, Koizumi took all the used plates and platters and set them onto a trolley, which had previously escaped my attention. "I'll be back in a bit." Koizumi pushed the trolley out of the dining room, and made a left turn.

"Wow, that was so good!" Haruhi downed another can of Cola. At least she won't get drunk with this stuff. Whether she gets high or not is going to depend on her absolutely unpredictable brain.

"…" Nagato had pulled a paperback from out of nowhere, and was already immersed in her book.

It was at this moment, the doorbell rang. I stood up, pushed in my chair, and went to go answer the door.

"Yo." Nara stood outside holding up a peace sign.

"Hi…" I opened the door wider. "Is there something you need?" I noticed two more people behind him.

"I wanted to introduce a few of my friends to you, just like I promised. They'll be staying in the house next-door to yours, so…"

"Oh yeah, right." I recalled Nara making such a promise. "So, uh, come on in."

"Thanks." Nara and his friends entered the house and removed their shoes.

I took a quick look at his two friends. One was a guy about my height. He had light coloured hair and brown eyes. He wore a dress shirt and black pants like Nara. The other was a girl. Let me tell you this right now. If I didn't know better, I would've sworn that she was Nagato's sister. The girl was about Nagato's height, had similarly short hair (albeit darker in colour), and wore glasses as well. She was wearing a white blouse, a navy blue skirt, and black leggings.

"Ah." The guy extended his hand. "I'm Hisao Nakai. Please to meet you."

"Yea." I take his hand a shook it. "Just call me Kyon." Since that's what I'm probably going to end up being called anyways. I turn to face the girl again. "And you are?"

The girl gave me an analytical stare, but didn't give me a response. Upon seeing this, Nara quickly made some hand motions to the girl. "I'm sorry, I forgot about that…" Nara laughed. "This is Shizune Hakamichi."

The girl bowed. She extended her hand to me in the same manner as Hisao. I took her hand shook it as well.

Nara decided to use this opportunity to explain. "Shizune communicates using sign language, and she can't hear. So if you two ever need to talk, Hisao and I can act as translators."

So that explains it.

Just as we finished shaking hands, Haruhi's head popped out of the dining room. "Hey, Hishikawa. Are these your friends?"

"Ah, Miss Suzumiya." Nara nodded. "Good evening to you. I'd like you to meet my friends."

A couple of minutes later, Miss Asahina joined us as well. After everyone introduced themselves, the guy named Hisao decided to pull me aside to converse.

"So, it looks like we'll be competing against each other, eh?"

I nodded. "So it seems. Did Nara get you guys involved in this too?"

"Haha…" Hisao looked back at Nara, who was doing some translation for Haruhi and Shizune. "He told Shizune about this gaming convention. Shizune's always been super competitive and she really likes games. Since it was summer break, we decided to round up a few people and come here. I only came because she wanted to though."

"Your girlfriend?" I look at Shizune, who was making swift motions with her hands.

"Uh-huh." Hisao put his hands behind his head. "It's a bit of a bother for us, but it sounded like fun for the most part."

"Where's the rest of your team then?"

"Well, they're at our lodgings right now. Still unpacking their belongings and getting settled down. Nara insisted that we should introduce ourselves to you."

"Oh by the way." I tapped Hisao on the shoulder. "You should tell your girlfriend later that she's fortunate she can't hear Haruhi's shouting."

"Haruhi?" Hisao pointed at her. "That girl?"

"Yeap."

"Yea, I was wondering about that." Hisao nodded. "She seems a bit not normal."

"You could put it that way…" I sighed. There was probably a mountain's worth of things I could tell him about Haruhi. But he'd probably think I was making things up on the spot.

"However, she does seem like an interesting person. If I got to know her better, maybe my opinion will change."

Despite my opinion of Haruhi changing quite a bit since we've met, I can still say with certainty that she's quite an extraordinary person.

"Hmm? Who's that girl?" Hisao's gaze fell upon Nagato, who just entered the scene. "She looks a lot like Shizune."

I had a feeling that I wasn't the only one who saw the resemblance. "That would be Yuki Nagato. She's the president of the literary club at our school."

"I see." Hisao examined Nagato carefully. "Did I tell you Shizune is the student council president at our school?"

"Nope."

Upon seeing Nagato, Shizune had a very surprised expression on her face. She probably thought that Nagato resembled her as well. Nagato stared at Shizune with her usual poker face. Shizune's surprise faded quickly, and returned an analytical gaze at Nagato. The two of them stood there staring at each other for a while, before Nara decided to make them introduce themselves to each other.

"Yuki Nagato." Nagato introduced herself to Shizune the same way she had introduced herself to me when we first met in the literary club.

Nara quickly signed this to Shizune. Shizune made a few deft motions of her own, which Nara quickly translated back to Nagato in words. "She's Shizune Hakamichi. She says she's happy to make your acquaintance."

I get the feeling that Nagato knows sign language as well, but she just hasn't decided to use it yet.

"Understood." Nagato nodded.

"She communicates using sign language, and she can't hear speech. If you ever need to talk to her, Hisao and I can translate for you."

As if to show she didn't need a translator, Nagato slowly made a few motions with her hands as well. Apparently this was sign language, because Shizune smiled excitedly and began signing back to Nagato.

"She knows sign language?" Hisao watched the short exchange intently.

"Yeap." I'm guessing Nagato learned it as soon as Nara told her about Shizune communicating through sign language.

"Heh, watching from back here, they look like sisters, don't they?"

"Haha." I smiled a bit. "That what I thought when I first saw Miss Hakamichi."

"Oh, what have we here?" Koizumi's head appeared in the door way. "Are we having some sort of a party?"

"Koizumi!" Nara was delighted to see him. "You came just in time. We're just having some self- introductions. Care to join us?"

"Don't mind if I do." Koizumi removed his footwear and greeted Hisao and Shizune. Nara translated for Shizune and Koizumi of course.

A while later, the rest of Hisao's team appeared. There were two girls and another guy. It's sort of like the SOS Brigade's composition.

"I'm Misha! Nice to meet you all!" The girl with the short pink hair introduced herself as such. "Wahahaha! I look forward to competing against you!"

"Just call me Kenji." The boy with thick glasses behind her wasn't too big on introductions it seems. "I'll enjoy competing against you guys and…yea… whatever."

The last girl, who had long dark purple hair, hid behind Hisao, trembling as she watched everyone else getting together. At first I didn't quite know what's wrong, but looking closer, I noticed that the right side of her face had burn scars on it. Her hair had concealed it at first. Upon noticing this, I raised an eyebrow in shock. I averted my eyes, only to find Shizune given me a stern look. Judging by the way she was waving her hands furiously at me, I probably did something I shouldn't have. Either way, I decided to let this one slide for fear that I'd stir up something bad.

"So…" Haruhi crossed her arms. "While you're all here, let's go down to the games room! The more the merrier, right?"

"That sounds like a good idea." The girl named Misha smiled in response. "We'll be able to have some fun, huh? Wahaha!"

"I'll take Hanako back first." Hisao and the other girl put on their shoes. "I'll be with you guys in a bit." With that, they took their leave.

"Sorry, but I've got things to do. I'll smell ya later." The guy named Kenji disappeared quickly out through the door as well.

Nara shut the door behind him. "Well, I guess let's go."

Haruhi and Misha lead the way to the game room. Shizune and Nagato were still signing back and forth as they made their way down the stair way. It's odd seeing Nagato being so sociable, seeing as she hardly says a word around us. Koizumi, Nara, and I were holding up the rear it seems.

"You definitely know a lot of people." I said to Nara.

"They're all from my current school." Nara flashed a smile at me. "They're really nice people."

"Well, shall we head down too?" Koizumi urged us onward.

"Yes. Let's." Nara descended the stair way. Koizumi and I followed.

…


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Trial by Domination**

For some reason, Haruhi, Misha, and Shizune pulled out board games from the shelf, Koizumi and I went back to that dragon game that we were playing earlier, and Nagato and Nara were busying themselves with the computers. Miss Asahina was the only one who decided to go to bed early. In fact, she was only in the game room for about ten minutes with us. And I don't even know what she was doing at the time. That aside, I had to deal with another problem: Haruhi's obnoxiously loud voice.

"I'll trample your puny army, and take all of North America! Take that!"

I'll assume that they're playing Risk or something like that. Adding to the noise pollution was Misha, who had to translate everything Haruhi said for Shizune, and vice versa. Most unfortunately, her voice was almost on par with Haruhi's in terms of loudness.

"If you keep attacking like that, you've got no chance! Wahaha~!"

I'm almost starting to regret coming here. Maybe I should've just gone to bed early as well. I couldn't help but close my eyes and shake my head. Especially after the latest death in-game, in which the shouting contest between Haruhi and Misha caused me to lose focus and get blown to bits.

"Want me to take over?" Koizumi, still smiling as pretentiously as ever, offered to take the console controller off my hands.

"Yea, feel free." I hand over the controller to him. "Tell me again. How did you meet this Nara character again?"

"Oh?" Koizumi took the controller and sat down beside me. "He hasn't told you?"

"More or less. But I'd prefer to hear it from you."

"Well, to make a long story short, we were classmates once upon a time." Koizumi fired off a few lasers as he said that. "I'm actually surprised he invited us here, given that we didn't know each other that well."

"To me, it sounds like your organization is cooking up something weird for us again."

Koizumi laughed and shook his head. "Relax, it's nothing like that. I've already told you, they're really not involved in this one. We've been invited here in good faith to participate."

Since it seemed like I wasn't going to get anything else out of Koizumi, I glanced at my watch. 10:30 PM. That Hisao person still hadn't come back yet, oddly enough.

"I'm going to go for a walk…" I start to head for the stairway.

"!" Something lands in front of me, bringing my trek to a halt.

It was a die. Somehow, it landed against the wall right beside the stairway, causing it to stand up on an edge.

"Hey, Kyon!"

Before I could even react, Haruhi was already grabbing my shirt collar and turning me around. "What did that die land on?"

"I didn't see!" I grabbed Haruhi's wrist. "Let go! Do you always have to forcefully turn me around for something so trivial?"

Relenting, Haruhi released me from her grip, and marched up to the die herself. "It's a six. So that means my army won!"

Shizune walked up beside me to verify. After a quick glance at the die, Shizune started signing with her hands again, although the motions looked more like cuts in the air than a sign to me.

"That's a four, Miss Suzumiya. Look at it closely." Misha came up from behind as well.

Oh god, I better get outta here quickly…

I tried to make a dash for the stairway. Haruhi's hand intercepted me before I could make it. Dang it!

"Kyon, it was a six right? A six!"

Haruhi glared at me menacingly, her eyes only mere centimeters from me now. I'm afraid to know what's going to happen if I say no…

"Miss Suzumiya." I don't know how he got there, but now Nara was kneeling beside the die and inspecting it like a rare gem. "Since it landed on an edge, we have no way of knowing. The rules say that the dice must be re-rolled if that happens."

"What do you mean, re-rolled?" Haruhi turned around, jabbing a finger at Nara. "It was a six, and that's fact!"

"Miss Suzumiya, please take it easy. It's just a game, right? Wahaha~!" Misha seemed to be speaking for herself this time.

Now's my chance.

Before anything else could interrupt me, I quickly made my way upstairs and out of the game room. My journey upstairs was accompanied by more of Haruhi's shouting, and Nara and Misha trying to calm her down. Meh, I sort of regret not saying something to her, as that is usually my job. The better question would be how that die got off the table in the first place. Haruhi or Shizune must have been really into it if the die made it that far though.

Quickly slipping on my shoes once I got to the door way, I exited the house. The view of the neighbourhood at night wasn't too bad. There were a few streetlights here and there, and a few stars in the sky scattered all over the place. It was a sight that was rather common, like in movies set in Europe. I paced around a bit outside. It wasn't too chilly, but it seemed like I was the only one outside; quite desolate actually, judging by the sound of it. I walked in front of the next door team's house. It most of the lights were closed, and I assume that means that they're all asleep. Thinking about that suddenly reminded me of that girl from earlier. The one that had long dark hair with burn scars on her face. Maybe I should apologize to her for staring or something. Though I am curious as to how she ended up like that, I don't think I should really pry into that.

I heard the sound of a twig suddenly being snapped coming from behind me. I turned around to see who was there. To my surprise, I found the other guy from Shizune's team. Kenji, I think his name was. I remembered because of the thick glasses he wore.

"Hey, Kenji, was it? Why aren't you with the others in game room?"

"Huh?" Kenji bolted into a fighting stance. "Who are you?"

"Uh…call me Kyon…" I paused, because I noticed that he was facing about 45 degrees to my left, rather than at me. "We uh…we just met. Like, an hour ago. I'm part of the team living next door to you…"

"Oh, is that all?" Kenji returned to a neutral position. "Don't scare me like that man."

"Sorry, didn't mean to." I scratched my head. This kid definitely seems a little odd.

"To tell you the truth…" Kenji suddenly lowered his voice, and looked around to make sure no one else could hear him. It seemed sort of silly because we were the only two here.

"Yea?"

"I'm performing some covert ops here. The entire part of the team thing is just a façade."

"…" I let out a heavy sigh. So much for people being normal around here. Just as thought I'd be able to take a short break from the SOS Brigade's world of wackiness.

"Okay, explain to me…" I'm afraid to ask, but… "What covert operation are you performing?"

"So…It goes like this. At our school, the number of girls is slightly but significantly higher than the number of boys, sorta like 60-40? That may not seem bad, but it's a whole 20%. So I believe that the school has become a battleground of sorts. The site of a feminist infiltration." I could hardly make out what he said since he was whispering in such a quiet voice, but I heard enough to know that this kid might not be sane.

"Okay, you totally lost me. Come again?"

"This disparity of number of men compared to women is a clear sign of how far they've come. If this becomes open war, they'll have the advantage in numbers, right? Eventually, the entire world will start to feel the effects of it. Not just Japan, but America, the West, and so forth. I've found that the Student Council of our school is at the top of their chain of command locally. So by coming here, I'll be able to collect intel on them without them having the slightest suspicion. Then with that intel, I can prepare myself in case of a pre-emptive attack, maybe even disrupt their communications. It is a stroke of genius, is it not?"

Genius you say? Are you sure your brain isn't fried? Yea, I'm definitely starting to think this guy's lost his marbles. If you have more girls than guys at your school, it's just the luck of the draw. I seriously doubt that there's some cold war styled conflict between men and women in this world.

"Well? Say something man!"

"Yea, uh…" I end up rubbing my forehead with my hand. "Why are you telling me all this again?"

"Cuz." Kenji placed a hand on my shoulder. I was tempted to jump away from him, but I managed to restrain myself. "We're like brothers in this conflict. You and I, we are not so different. We're both always surrounded by the feminists, abandoned by our comrade in arms. We have to look out for each other."

_Right. Well, look out for this._ I gave him a gentle push to back him away from me. "I appreciate your concern, but I don't think I'm in any danger." I daresay that without Nagato around, I'd be easy picking for a lot of people who want to kill me.

"Well, I've given you my advice. Your call whether to heed it or not." Kenji turned away. "Farewell for now. We'll meet again, perhaps on the field of battle."

Thanks, but I don't know if I want to have another run in with you, though it's good to know that there are people who are even crazier than Haruhi. Aliens, time travelers, and espers might seem far off, but a feminist conspiracy like what Kenji said is even less believable.

"You met Kenji, huh?" Another voice from behind me. Why is it that everyone always has to sneak up on me?

I turn around, to come face to face with Hisao again. I nod. "Yea, he's uh…Unique…"

"Haha…Kenji is Kenji. He's my next door neighbour at school. Always going on about feminist conspiracies and stuff."

"Doesn't it bother you? He's saying some pretty freakish things you know."

Hisao shrugged. "Yea, it does. But I'm used to it now. He doesn't really seem like a bad person though. I'll give him that much."

"By the way." I remembered that Hanako girl again. "That girl who was with you. Hanako, was it? Could you fill me in about what's wrong? It seems that I upset her or something when we were all making introductions."

"Oh, yea, Hanako…" It was Hisao's turn to exhale heavily. "Well, I've only got her word for it, but…She told me that when she was young, she was in a house fire. It happened in the middle of the night, when her family was asleep. Hanako curled in up in a corner because she was scared. Her mother used her own body to shield Hanako from the fire. That was how she survived that. It was…" At that moment, Hisao broke off, and took two deep breaths before continuing. "It was really tragic, you know? Her entire family died in that fire. I've lived without my mom and dad before, but never seeing them again, well…that's something different."

I finally understood. If that's true, then what I did was pretty rude.

"Yea…" I couldn't help but nod. What else could I do? "I can't even imagine it myself. I just…I was sort of shocked, seeing her."

"You're not the only one, you know." Hisao glanced back at the house behind him, at a window on the second floor. "Back when I was walking through a pawn shop with her once, the store keeper did the same thing. And when I first met her, I was pretty shocked as well. I feel bad about it now, but it seems like that's the natural reaction people give."

"I guess so."

We both remained silent for a few minutes. We just stared at that window on the second floor of the house behind Hisao.

"Well, any way…" Hisao turned back to me. "You two should get to know each other later. I have an idea when the right time comes."

"That sounds good. I appreciate it."

"Hey!" A third voice caught both of our attentions.

Nara was waving at us from the doorway of the house I was staying at. "Come on, you two! They're having game of chess between Miss Suzumiya and Shizune! You should watch!"

"Chess?" Hisao groaned. "Oh boy…"

I sighed in resignation. "Yea, I know exactly how you feel…"

Without another word of protest though, the two of us followed Nara back down into the game room. When we got there, Shizune and Haruhi were about halfway done already. By the looks of it, it was a dead even match, with the Queen on both sides out of the game, and an equal number of other miscellaneous pieces standing beside the game board.

"Hmm…" Haruhi studied her pieces, and then glanced at Shizune's pawn, position about three squares from Haruhi's end of the game board.

Shizune calmly rested her hands on her lap, and waited for Haruhi to make her move.

"This could take a while…" I checked my watch again. 10:45 PM. I should've just ignored Nara…

…..

In the end, the first game ended in a stalemate because it just ended up with Shizune and Haruhi having only their Kings and a bishop. I don't even know how that works, but they just called it game, and decided to start a new one. Haruhi was winning the second game last I checked, but I left to go play Mahjong with Koizumi, Nara, and Hisao.

"Eh…" I tapped one of my pieces on the board. My hand had almost all Chows right now and I was still missing a pair.

"Well Kyon, you going or not?" Nara snapped his fingers.

"Yea." I threw out my White Dragon tile. I don't think I'll be completing a pair with that anyway.

"Yeah, that's Pon." Hisao took the tile I threw out, revealing two white dragon tiles from his hand.

"Dang…" I tap the table in frustration. "I'm not getting anything good here."

"Well, it's for fun. It isn't a big deal." Hisao threw bamboo nine tile out. "By the way, Nara."

"Yea, what's up?" Nara threw out the tile he just drew.

"How are they going to choose the teams that face each other?"

"Well, it's actually a short process. Ah, Koizumi, that's Pon for me." He took Koizumi's south tile before continuing. "First, all of the teams will be introduced. Then, a round robin tournament will begin, and the teams facing each other will all be chosen via lottery. This will be repeated twice after the first time. The games are also chosen at random."

Koizumi picked up a new tile, and discarded a circle three tile. "You mentioned that some games don't let the whole team participate. What do we do then?"

"You have to choose which team members are allowed to participate. There is a rule however that states that the entire team must participate in the round robin before the finals though."

"Alright, I guess that works." Hisao tossed out a west tile, which I desperately needed.

Forget the pair, I'll have to call Pon now if I want a chance at winning. "I call Pon!"

I take the tile and throw out my last red dragon.

"Haha, it's time we end this. Out!" Taking my red dragon tile, Nara revealed his hand, showing three pons, a chow, and a pair.

"Gah…" I sighed and revealed my hand. I was pretty close to winning too…

"Well, I have to return to my quarters now." Nara stood up. "Please enjoy yourselves, but don't stay up too late. You still have to be fresh for tomorrow's opening round."

"Right. See you later, Nara." Hisao waved his hand.

"Have a good evening." Koizumi said that as he was cleaning up our tiles.

"See ya." I decided to join the flow and waved my hand too. I almost felt silly doing so though. I'm used to just a verbal farewell now.

Nara bowed, before heading upstairs. His absence left us short one person.

"Hey, Nagato." I decided to call Nagato over to join us. She probably remembers how to play from that time we were on the remote island. "Want to play?"

"…" Nagato didn't respond out loud, but she sat down where Nara was just a moment ago.

"Alright, well…" Koizumi presented us with four cleanly stacked piles of two by fourteen tiles. "Shall we begin?"

In hindsight, what transpired after was probably not a good idea for people who had to get up early the next day for a competition. What basically happened was that we stayed up for almost the entire night in the game room, with us playing Mahjong and Haruhi and Shizune still going at it in chess. Not to say that it was a bad thing, but it isn't what competitors should do, especially if they're like Haruhi and want to win.

…


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Let the Battles Begin!**

The next morning, I found myself standing barely awake amongst a crowd of people at the backstage of some theater. Brief flashback mode start.

After wasting valuable resting time with the neighbouring team, I finally decided to hit the bed and call it a day. However, since I had gone to bed at close to 3:00 AM, when I was dragged out of bed by Haruhi, I had only managed to get five hours of sleep. Of course, she didn't seem the least bit tired, like one of those soldiers who took medication to stay awake without fatigue. The same would apply to Koizumi, Nagato, and Asahina. I was practically force fed breakfast, then loaded into the back of a van. Almost like a kidnapping, if you will. Nara was driving again, and I faded in and out of consciousness the whole trip. And after half an hour or so, I was grabbed again and hauled off into some massive building. And before I knew it, I was standing where I am now; at the back of a stage, behind some curtains, with the rest of the SOS Brigade. Am I seriously the only one who was completely exhausted by last night's events?

"Attention everyone! The opening ceremony is going to begin."

The announcement came from a girl wearing a blue game master uniform. I don't think I've been introduced to her yet.

"Hey, Kyon!" Haruhi whacked me in the back with the force of a hammer. "Stand up straight, and fix your hair! Don't make the SOS Brigade look pathetic in front of all these people!"

The impact sent a jolt through my body, sending me perfectly upright before. Is that seriously how you treat a guy who's down and out like me? That's quite uncalled for.

"You look like a loser when you droop down with hair like that! I won't let one person such as you mess this up for all of us!"

Haruhi laid down the law as she pointed a menacing finger at me. Damn girl. I should seriously consider mutiny during the course of this competition.

Koizumi smirked at me. "Didn't get enough sleep last night?"

Go figure I didn't. I quickly patted my hair down as best as I could. I don't know how Koizumi still had that irritating smile of his when he slept even later than me.

"Dealing with the Celestials has constantly kept me on my feet." Koizumi glanced at Haruhi as he whispered that. "I've become accustomed to the alterations to my usual sleeping pattern."

Trying my best to keep my eyes open, I took a quick look around at the teams. There were eight teams of five including us. Not surprisingly, no one was wearing their school uniforms. That seems like a lot of school spirit. I also spotted Hisao standing with his team. Oddly enough though, he was the only one on his team who seemed to be sleeping while standing. Shizune and Misha were totally fine.

When the proceedings actually started, it was sort of like a school's opening ceremony for a new school year. Nara and the other GM girl were the masters of ceremonies, calling up important individuals to give speeches. Since I was hardly awake to begin with, I didn't pay attention to a single word spoken, but I did see that the people giving them wore formal attire, like business people. After the speeches were done, the teams were introduced either by their school name or by a club name. When it was our turn to introduce ourselves though, it was the first time I got a good look at the audience in the theater, and much to my surprise, there were at least a thousand people there. Most of them were kids or high school students, but there were also a handful of adults scattered here and there. While I was analyzing the crowd, Haruhi was busy shouting a cheer at the audience. Enthusiastic as always, I suppose. After all the teams were introduced, the GMs finally introduced themselves.

"Before we begin the main event, allow us to introduce the GMs." Nara motioned to the girl next to him. "This is GM Akira Takano. She'll be handling the game selections and matchmaking."

Akira returned the gesture. "Thank you. And this is GM Nara Hishikawa. He will deal with all technicality issues, and any hardware problems that may arise."

"Now that we've introduced everyone, let the battles… begin!" Nara turned and pointed a finger at a big screen used for a projector.

A cheer came from the audience. Wow, this actually feels like a competition. It doesn't hold a candle to the level of something like the Olympic Games, but…

"The game selection will begin now." Akira nodded at someone sitting at the back of the theater.

With the press of a button on a laptop, the projector lit up, and words started scrolling down like pictures in a slot machine. Eventually, the words came to a halt, and the name of the game displayed was "Counter Strike".

"The game has been chosen; a five on five battle, and now…the opening matchups!"

The words Counter Strike faded away and the names of the teams swirled into view like a vortex. Four names remained after the animation had ended.

"The first two games have been decided!" Nara gave an excited shout. "The SOS Brigade will take on the home team, Yagami High's Coalition, and the Ouran Academy Host Club is opposed by the Yamaku High Student Council!"

Dang it. I was hoping to avoid an opening round confrontation so I'd be able to snooze for a bit.

"Alright, we're in the opening matches! Let's show them what we're made of!" Haruhi did a fist pump, and then held up Nagato and Asahina's hands in some sort of a cheering stance.

"Koizumi…" I faced the SOS Brigade's yes-man. I think the look on my face was enough to convey my message. I really, really, don't want to do this.

"May the four selected teams please remain on the stage."

I don't think I'd be able to leave the stage no matter how badly I wanted to, so I obediently remained in place. After the other teams left, the remaining teams were left to face their opponents.

"…These guys are sort of intimidating, don't you think?"

Directly opposing us was a team of all guys; a team that from just looks alone told me that we were in for it. The team members are as follows: A gruff-looking dark skinned guy wearing sunglasses (sunglasses indoors?); a foreigner with blonde hair, the kind that seemed to be popular with the girls; a buff guy with black hair and a pony tail; a guy wearing glasses who looks like he'd be the class rep type; and another guy with blond hair but wasn't a foreigner, although he concerned me the least.

Haruhi stood facing our opponents without the slightest trace of fear or anxiety. I don't know how anyone can face these guys and not be at least a bit frightened, but it seems that Haruhi has a knack for standing confidently against any odd. Overconfidently I might even say.

Akira tapped her microphone again to make sure it was working before speaking. "I will now do a roster listing for each team. From the home team, we have Harima Kenji, Harry Mackenzie, Togo Masakazu, Haruki Hanai, and Imadori Kyosuke. From the SOS Brigade, we have Haruhi Suzumiya, Mikuru Asahina, Yuki Nagato, Itsuki Koizumi, and Kyon."

Akira turned her index finger towards the other competitors. "From the Ouran Academy Host Club, we have Haruhi Fujioka, Tamaki Suoh, Kyoya Otori, Mitsukuni Haninozuka, and Hikaru Hitachiin. From the Yamaku High Student Council, we have Hisao Nakai, Hanako Ikezawa, Shizune Hakamichi, Shiina Mikado, and Kenji Setou."

"Huh…" At the mention of the name Haruhi Fujioka, Haruhi (Suzumiya) turned in the boy's general direction to check him out. "He's not half-bad looking."

Focus, Haruhi (Suzumiya). We have bigger problems than him. Look at the people standing across from us.

"D cup, D cup…It's gotta be D cup…"

My focus, however, was redirected by the random muttering from one of our opponents. The one named Imadori Kyosuke was, from my vantage point, staring at Asahina's chest while muttering that. I don't think anyone else, even Asahina, noticed this. Now that bugs me. When this is all said and done, since I can't beat up anyone on stage, I'll drag this guy out the back doors and teach him a lesson about giving people indecent looks. Especially at Asahina.

"Well, let's get to it then." Nara led us away from the stage, and out the backdoor of the theater.

After a few seconds of walking, we reached a small room with five computers, reclining chairs, and headsets. I could tell they were high end because of all the aesthetics and logos written on them. So many logos that I didn't even want to bother looking at anything asides the Intel one. The room was rather bland asides that though. It was painted completely white. The computers were already booted up, and the multiplayer menu of Counter Strike was on the monitor of all of them.

Nara gave me a friendly pat on the back. "Try to get at least one kill. And remember, this will be broadcasted to the audience."

Yeah, I'll keep that in mind. Maybe I'll sneak in a few minutes of sleeping time while I'm at it.

"Alright peoples, this is what we've been waiting for! Now get on those machines and let's roll!" Haruhi wanted in battle positions, and we had not much of a choice but to obey.

Koizumi and I warmed up a bit yesterday against bots, but Haruhi, Nagato, and Asahina hadn't as much as even touched Counter Strike yesterday. That means Koizumi and I are the only ones who even have a clue as to how to play the game. This is turning out to be an even bigger disadvantage than the time we took on the Computer Research Society.

"See that lobby?" Koizumi pointed at the server named "SOS vs. Yagami". "We're going to use that one."

Thanks for the words of wisdom. I'm sure next you can help me type my name into the user profile creation menu.

After entering my name successfully, and entering the lobby, we were informed by the GMs that we were supposed to be the counter-terrorists, and that the map we'd be playing on is de_dust2 or something like that. After a 10 second count down, we were all loaded up and put into the game. And as per regulations, all of us started with only the default pistols and $800.

"Wah…how do I move my person around?" Asahina frantically pressed buttons to try and get her character to move around. I'm not even sure if she was moving the mouse.

"Use the WASD keys to move around. The direction of movement corresponds directly to the direction of the keys relative to your character. Use your mouse to look around." The handsome freak gave Asahina a quick demonstration.

"Move it and stop sitting around!" Haruhi by this time was well out of the spawning zone.

I wasn't too far behind her. Someone needs to back her up, and I guess I'm elected. Koizumi will have to deal with Nagato and Asahina's inexperience. Though I think Nagato will pick up the game faster. Wandering through the desert like map, Haruhi and I quickly reached a hallway of some sort, and it was connect to two exits, one straight and one right. Here is where the first encounter started. One of the enemies had wandered into the dark hallway near the middle of the map from the right exit, and did not notice the two of us coming up.

"Eat lead!" Haruhi smashed her left mouse button as fast as she could.

I didn't even get a single shot away, as Haruhi's aim was surprisingly precise. The shots nailed the guy right in the head. Took it right out of him. First kill of the competition scored by Haruhi Suzumiya. It seems like the guy that was killed was that Imadori guy from earlier. Of course though, what followed next was not good news.

"What?!" Haruhi stared at her monitor in blank surprise when both she and I were gunned down by the two people coming in from the front exit. Apparently, Imadori had been bait.

"Hey, Koizumi." I turned my chair to face him. "Any luck with them?"

"What do you expect?"

"Grr…" Haruhi hand both hands on her monitor like she was about detach it and throw it at the wall.

That was just one death. No need to make a fuss. There's plenty where that came from, so no need to break anything just yet.

"Hah…" I clicked on my minimap to enlarge it, and saw that Asahina had finally been able to move, and Nagato was already in combat with the enemy. Koizumi was staying back at the bomb zone near the fight and completely out of danger for now.

"Koizumi! Get in there and slaughter them!" Haruhi barked out orders to the SOS Brigade's Deputy Chief.

"With all due respect, Miss Brigade Chief." Koizumi gave an exaggerated resigned sigh. "If we all charge into the enemy, we will surely be defeated if they are more skilled than us. We must use the map to our advantage. At times like this, a simple trap can prove to be effective."

As he said that, Nagato was taken out of the game, after killing exactly zero enemies, and hurting maybe only one of them. Asahina was gunned down after stepping out into the open.

"Koizumi, you're the last man left. Don't let the SOS Brigade down!" Haruhi turned back to her own monitor to watch the now four versus one round.

Using spectator mode, I viewed the map using a free-fly camera. All four of the enemies remaining were closing in on bombsite B now, and two of them were at low health. The third was at okay health, and the fourth was at almost 100% health. If Koizumi can pull a win out of this, I'll be impressed. Seeing as how he usually loses in his games against me, I don't think he has a particularly good chance of winning though.

One of the enemies was planting the bomb now. It was at this moment when Koizumi decided to strike. Having attached a suppressor onto his weapon, he silently took out the one planting the bomb, and then finished off one of the hurt enemies with a head shot before moving to new cover. Now fully aware of the fact that their enemy was there, our remaining foes decided to fan out and find Koizumi. Koizumi turned a corner and hid behind a crate. One walked past him without noticing, and Koizumi immediately cashed in by firing a few rounds into his back. The problem now was that the last two competitors in this round were both at high health, and I don't know if their skill levels are the same. Koizumi crouched down and walked back past the corner, and glanced out into the open. It was at that moment when two gunshots came. Both hit Koizumi, dropping him down to only 15 health. Koizumi quickly turned back, and ran in the opposite direction. Yeah, he's definitely on the ropes now.

"Koizumi, come on! Just one more guy, just get him!" Haruhi wasn't being particularly helpful by distracting Koizumi.

"Hmm." Koizumi paused behind an archway, and looked out into the open again. No one was there.

Then suddenly, an announcement lit up everyone's screen: "The timed bomb has been planted."

"This complicates things." Koizumi smirked and walked out into the open. Seeing the enemy who planted the bomb, he took a few shots at him. I don't know if the shots hit him or not, but the enemy was now alerted to Koizumi's new position. Koizumi ducked behind the archway. Just then, something unexpected happened. A red cylinder landed in front of Koizumi's feet and detonated, killing him instantly.

"Terrorists win!" The announcer relayed the demise of the SOS Brigade for everyone to hear.

"What?!" Haruhi couldn't believe what had just happened. "Did he cheat?! How did he do that?!"

"Settle down, Haruhi." I used the calmest voice that I could manage. "We're given $800 to start with. That is more than enough to buy grenades and stuff. I just didn't think of that at fi-"

Haruhi's hand shot out and grabbed me, silencing me before I could finish. "You knew about that and you didn't tell us?! Why?! We lost because we didn't know that! And don't say I-"

"You didn't ask." It was my turn to cut her off. "Let's get back to it. There are 15 rounds, and that was only round one. It's early, so don't panic."

"Hmph!" Haruhi turned around with a huff, looking greatly displeased. "There'll be punishment for you after this if we don't win!"

Yikes. That is never a good sign. I'm going to hope that we won't have to deal with any supernatural stuff because of Haruhi's frustration. Especially not closed space. We'd be short a team member if Koizumi has to go deal with it, and that'd make things even worse.

I took a deep breath, as round two was about to commence.

…


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:** **Premonition**

For a while, I found myself clicking my mouse rapidly, dying a few seconds later, and waiting until the end of the round. It felt like I had repeated it so many times that I was tempted to put my head down on the keyboard and let sleep take me away. Except with every round loss, Haruhi's temper was getting worse and worse, to the point where I was convinced that any more failure would result in her smashing the computer or worse.

"Damn it! Get your act together!" Haruhi jabbed her index finger at me like a gun, which I dismissed with a sleepy nod.

"We're not too far behind." Koizumi noted, pulling up a scoreboard. "6-4 is still acceptable. If we push back now, we have a chance winning this." He then turned with a surprisingly calm smile to face Nagato. "How shall we proceed? We are on attack next."

"We will divide into two groups and strike at both sites through separate pathways. The bomb will be carried to site B, where it will be planted and guarded by any surviving member."

And so, Nagato's battle plan would be perhaps our only hope of winning now. When Koizumi pulled up the scoreboard, it said that the first team to 8 victories wins. With the enemy ahead of us by two wins, we'd have to pull off something amazing. I can't see it happening without some sort of tampering with the game from one of the SOS Brigade's supernatural trio.

"Um…" Miss Asahina called out to me. "Am I supposed to press this key?"

Apparently, she was trying to open the shop menu. I should also mention that the only person who's used a weapon besides a handgun long term would be Koizumi. Every time I bought something new, I'd be killed off before I hardly fired a shot. Haruhi would only buy the handgun called the Nighthawk, and I think the other two girls of the SOS Brigade didn't know how to shoot properly yet.

"Yeah…" I gave Asahina's screen a weary glance. "Should be."

"The round's starting. Take them down!" Haruhi took out her Nighthawk once again, and the SOS Brigade was on potentially on the track for another dismantling.

When I entered the tunnel that I had gone through every single time though, something weird happened. All of a sudden, my vision went blurry. At first I thought it was from a lack of sleep, but then my body was also hit by an odd sensation. It could only be best described as a disconnection from reality, as it was even stronger than the strong wave of déjà vu I had felt from the Endless Summer vacation last year.

I covered my eyes, as I suddenly started to feel a dull ache in my head. Images flashed violently before me…A boy with silver hair standing alone in a burning city before a horde of grotesque creatures…A girl with a black jacket, katana, and long fiery red hair…Koizumi dressed in an archaic priest costume holding a harp…

"Ngh…!" I felt my face smashing down against my keyboard. Damn it, what is this…?

I could hear a voice calling my name…I couldn't tell if it was Haruhi or Asahina. Dang it, my vision was still a blurry mess. I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face. It felt like I was riding some sort of crazy rollercoaster. I'm going to lose consciousness at this rate…

That's when a hand grabbed my shoulder, and violently jerked me back into reality. "Kyon, what's wrong?"

When I looked over my shoulder, Haruhi was standing there with a worried look on her face, completely neglecting the computer which had seemed so important to her a moment ago.

"Everything okay?" Koizumi asked.

"Yeah…" I wiped away cold sweat from my forehead. "I just felt a bit dizzy…"

"Don't worry me like that." Haruhi puffed up her chest and glared down at me. "I thought perhaps you were having a stroke or something." She then marched back to her computer like nothing happened. I wonder, isn't dizziness an early sign of a stroke?

I looked back at my screen. My character was still in the tunnel entrance. Though I proceeded through the tunnel, I couldn't shake the feeling that the violent flash of images must've been a sign of some sort. My premonition is never too off when something like this happens. I guess I'll have to start paying extra attention to my surroundings then. Still, I have no clue what that image of Koizumi with harp was doing there. I think I recalled something similar during the skiing trip a while back, but I don't see what that had to do with this.

…..

I don't know how we did it, but we managed to win the match by the very end. Nagato's battle plans and tactics must've paid off, because we'd managed to come all the way back to win the match 8-7. The first thing that happened was that Nara congratulated us, and then brought us to the other team in the building's players' lounge. We all shook hands after and introduced ourselves, although I was keeping a close eye on the one named Imadori.

"A fine battle!" Togo Masakazu shook my hand firmly. "Bravo! Enjoy your victory. You earned it."

"Uh…Thanks…" I won't lie; this guy's intensity is really freaky.

"I thought you not good at games. But I guess I was mistaken." The one named Harry Mackenzie nodded in agreement. "I guess you were not warmed up for early matches."

"Thanks! You did pretty well too." Unlike me, Haruhi eagerly exchanged handshakes with all the members of the opposing team.

I glanced sideways at Asahina and Nagato. Asahina was sort of shy in the handshaking department from what I could tell, but Nagato wasn't even moving her hands. On a side note, I still can't get used to the sight of her wearing glasses again.

The player's lounge was sort of like someone's living room; there were coffee tables, chairs and sofas all over the place, and there was exactly one sofa and coffee table for each team. On top of that, there a ton of empty space in the middle of the lounge. The walls were painted beige and there weren't any windows.

"It looks like Hisao's team won their bout as well." I checked paper scoreboard stuck onto the entrance, and saw that a win had been recorded for both our teams.

"Heh…Shizune is going to get it good when we have our match. I'll teach her not to underestimate my brigade!" Haruhi raised a fist at the piece of paper as if it were a punching bag.

I'm going to guess her behaviour had something to do with the Risk and Chess match from last night. But I've got bigger concerns right now. Koizumi had pulled me over to a less populated area of the lounge. He had an odd but serious look on his face.

"I need to talk to you about something. And I'd like you to keep this a secret from Miss Suzumiya."

Well, I can't really say no when you put it like that.

"When you had your, shall we say spell of dizziness during our match, did you see any of these images by chance? A boy with silver hair standing in a burning city, Miss Suzumiya dressed in some sort of archaic attire or a man with black spiky hair kneeling in front of a tombstone."

I for sure recall seeing the first one, but definitely not the latter two. And hold on, how did you know that I saw images?

I couldn't tell if Koizumi was satisfied or disturbed by my response. "When you left the house with Hisao last night, I experienced a similar spell of dizziness with flashing images. However, no one seemed to notice, so I didn't say anything."

I took a quick survey of the room. Currently, all the teams except the ones that were just called up were around in the vicinity. I lowered my voice to a whisper. "Do you think Haruhi's got something to do with this?"

"It seems so, though I don't know for sure what the nature of our predicament is."

How can you tell? Enlighten me, Koizumi.

The guy with a smiling face shrugged. "Let's see if this rings a bell. While experiencing your dizziness, did you perhaps feel like you were disconnected from reality? Like you were in a dream or trance? Maybe even déjà vu?"

Okay, I did. The sky's still blue though; tell me something that'll make me understand.

"It's similar to what happened last summer, only much stronger. If so, that would also indicate a shift of some sort in the space time continuum. And may I remind you that I happen to be an expert regarding Miss Suzumiya's mental activities?"

So what are you saying exactly? I hate to make you spoon-feed me answers, but you're not making much sense to me still.

"I believe that there is definitely something different about this place. I can't tell what exactly, but I know it has something to do with Miss Suzumiya. I'm going to hope that she doesn't notice it and change the nature of the situation."

I'll ask Nagato. She always has some sort of answer about stuff like this, even though I can't understand them most of the time.

"Hey, Nagato."

"What?" The humanoid interface gazed at me with her ebony eyes.

"Tell me something. Is there anything strange about this place that I should know about?"

A quarter note's worth of silence passed before she answered me. "I cannot say for certain. I have detected the presence of some sort of barrier. The nature of this barrier cannot be analyzed, and I cannot determine its purpose or its creator."

"A barrier? What do you mean?"

"It is an invisible and intangible field. It has enclosed the perimeter of the city, and contains the inhabitants inside it. I am unable to analyze its effects on them though."

In other words, we're in a place like in the SOS Brigade Clubroom. And just like the clubroom, it seems like no one has noticed anything strange going on here. I'm not sure how long that's going to last for.

"Thanks Nagato."

She nodded, and turned her back to me.

When I walked back to Koizumi, I repeated what Nagato had said to me to him. Well, as best as I could that is.

"Hmm…Let me try something."

Koizumi held out his hand, palm up. Without any warning, a small fireball appeared in his hand; the same kind that he had conjured up during the cave cricket extermination. The fireball disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and it seemed like no one noticed asides me.

"That's very odd…I should only be able to use my power within Miss Suzumiya's closed space."

That means that Haruhi has something to do with this barrier?

"I am sure that we are not within closed space though. That means something else must be wrong here." Koizumi took a moment to think. "For now though, lets continue as if nothing is wrong. We'll deal with the situation as it develops."

Sounds like a fine idea to me. I don't want to go chasing after clues to the origins of this barrier at this moment anyway.

For now, I decided that it was best if Koizumi and I mingled with the other teams. I think the two of us standing in a corner like that would be suspicious, even to Haruhi. I decided to walk over to chat with Hisao's team for a bit. Seems like Nagato was already there anyway.

"And so, Shizune pulled off this crazy sniper shot after she jumped off a box…" Misha's voice was the first I heard.

Upon getting close to the group, I noticed that Hisao was still really out of it. He was sitting on a sofa and had bags under his eyes too.

"Hey. You doing okay?"

He looked up at me with sleep deprived eyes. "Oh, Kyon. I'm uh…Yeah, tired is the best way to put it."

"So you won your first match?"

"Yeah." Hisao yawned before continuing. "I didn't do much though. Shizune and Misha were the ones who did all the work. Haha…That reminds me."

Hisao stood up and tried his best to look like he wasn't about to collapse any second. "Let's make up for some lost time. Hanako!"

He called his teammate over. The girl with long dark hair and burn scars.

"Go on, introduce yourself."

"…" The girl looked at me with frightened eyes. I guess my look of shock must've stuck with her. Sigh.

"Hey, uh…Just call me Kyon." I held my left hand out in a handshake gesture.

Slowly, she took my hand and shook it. "M-my name is Hanako."

This feels really awkward…That's the best way I can describe it.

I took a quick glance to my right side, and saw Nagato with Shizune and Misha, doing all sorts of hand signs. Her being sociable is completely out of character, so I'll guess she's just interested by the new form of communication.

"Since uh…" Hisao took out a small chessboard from underneath one of the coffee tables lying around the lounge. "We have about half an hour of down time, would you two like to try playing chess?"

Well, I guess that's a good way to pass time. I've tried chess with Koizumi before, but asides that I've never played it much.

…

"So, tell me. What's it like going to Yamaku?"

Knight to E-4.

"It's…nice. It might be a bit remote, but it's a good school."

Queen to E-4.

I sighed. I'm losing at chess for once. Then again, Koizumi's the type to lose at just about any board games, so I guess I'm really no match for someone like Hanako.

"Do you play chess often?"

"Um…" Hanako gave a small smile. "Every once in a while…I'm not any good at it though…"

"Not any good? I think you're selling yourself a bit short there." I moved my bishop up close to the right hand corner of the board. "Check."

Hanako moved up her own bishop and protected her king with it. My bishop retreated back down one square.

"Hmm…" I glanced at the board. It wasn't looking good at all for me…One rook, two bishops, and four pawns. Hanako still had her queen, a bishop, a rook, and three pawns. And her rook and one of her bishops were at my ending, starting to box me in. A few more moves and this game would be over.

Hanako moved her queen down two squares to the right of my king.

"Check."

Left with no choice, I moved my King up. Hanako responded by moving her other bishop down towards the left. I moved my king to the left, and this time she brought her rook up to cut me off.

"I…think that's checkmate."

Indeed so. I've nowhere left to run. I couldn't get my rook anywhere close to their pieces without being it killed and having my king trapped again, and my bishop was too far away to do any good. I don't think I even need to mention where my pawns are.

I offered my hand to Hanako. "Good game."

Hanako slowly took my hand and shook it.

"Kyon, our next match is about to start! Get over here now!" Haruhi's ear-piercing voice blasted me out of my moment of peace.

"I have to go. Let's play chess again some time."

Hanako nodded timidly. "T-that…would be nice. Good bye."

"See you."

I walked over to join my team. "So, let's get this over with then." I covered my mouth and yawned. I'm still feeling really out of it.

"I don't know who we're up against, but we'll crush them! Anything short of total obliteration is an insult to our enemies!" Haruhi was so pumped up her eyes were practically on fire.

Good grief…I suppose this is what they mean by no rest for the wicked?

….

And so, our morning hours passed with four wins and three losses. It was okay position to be in, considering the fact that all of our matches were very close. For some reason, Haruhi didn't seem particularly irritated when we lost a close game. Well, that might have something to do with the fact that our team was safely in the top four. I wasn't sure of our actual standing though. Asides from the sheer number of people about our age we met, there was one very interesting development during the morning hours. It came right before our fifth match, which was supposed to be against…I think the Misaki City Municipal High School Team? Doesn't matter. Let's rewind a bit then.

Right before our fifth match…

"Excuse me everyone." Akira Takano had entered the player's lounge to give an announcement. For some reason, she was also carrying two foam swords. "It appears that one of our computers is experiencing technical difficulties. The next match will be postponed until we can fix it. Please be patient."

Akira then approached two random guys and handed them the foam swords. "Entertain yourselves if you wish. There are also board games underneath the coffee tables." Akira then left the lounge as quickly as she came.

…Foam swords, huh?

"Hey, you." A black-haired girl wearing a white tank top and pink skirt called out to one of the guys. "Give me that if you're not going to use it."

"Ah…sure…" The guy handed the foam sword to the girl and quickly walked away.

Haha, that's almost funny, considering that he was intimidated by a girl about half his height. Okay, half might be exaggerating, but you get what I mean.

However, when I got a good look at the girl's face, I realized something. This girl had the same face as the one that I had seen when I experienced my spell of dizziness. But she didn't have the crimson hair or the katana…Although that foam sword could serve as an adequate replacement.

"Hey. Wanna spar?" The girl pointed her sword at the other guy.

"Uh…No thanks…" The guy put the sword on the ground and backed away with a scared look.

"I'll take you on." Another guy with black spiky hair showed up on the scene. Picking up the sword, he matched the girl's stance.

"Alright then." The girl dashed forward with a sweeping cut.

The guy with spiky hair was ready. Warding the strike with a vertical block, he quickly twisted his wristed upwards and sent the girl's foam sword flying up. The girl quickly jumped back a few feet to catch her sword.

Now their sparring match had gotten the attention of just about everyone in the lounge. I could feel people forming a circle around the two. I could also hear a lot of whispering amongst the people too.

"Tch…" The girl changed her stance, bringing her sword up in front of her with the blade pointed diagonally towards the ground.

The guy pointed his sword directly at her. "Maybe it's time you dropped the tough girl act."

The girl closed the gap between them in an instant, and took another slash at the guy. The guy ducked the attack and bashed the girl's sword with the handle of his sword, and sent the girl's sword flying away again. The girl rolled to her right, and caught the sword before it hit the ground again.

"Whoa…" The entire crowd murmured together.

"…Perhaps I wasn't taking you seriously enough." The girl stood up straight.

Then in the blink of an eye, she was in front of the guy again. This time, instead of a strong slash, she flicked her sword left and right, attacking so fast that I couldn't even keep up with her. The guy had his eyes wide open in surprise, but he didn't lose his composure. Blocking the flurry of attacks, he timed his ward perfectly to stop the girl's sword and pinned it down to the ground. Grabbing girl's shoulder, her vaulted over her, landing behind her. Before he could connect his blade with her neck, the girl dropped down low, and smashed the butt of her weapon into the guy's stomach.

"What?!" Haruhi watched as the guy staggered back a few steps. "That was awesome! Maybe I should join in too. I'll show them how to really put on a show!"

…I'm not sure if anyone is looking for a show here.

"Heh…" The guy stood back up, took off his black sweater and cast it aside. "You're pretty good."

"Hey." Koizumi pulled me aside. "Do you recognize either one of them?"

I think that girl is the same one that I saw in my vision. How about you?

"That man greatly resembles the one that I had seen when I had my episode of dizziness." Koizumi eyed both of them. "I don't think this is coincidence."

For a while, we watched them exchange blows back and forth, until the girl snapped the guy's sword in half with a powerful swing of her sword.

"Ow!" The piece broken off flew in my direction, and nailed me in the chest.

"Whoa!" The crowd didn't seem to care about me getting hit. Caught up in the fighting I guess.

The girl raised her sword up to finish off the guy. As her blade came down on him, the guy caught the sword by the flat of the blade with both hands. Then, he spun his arms to the right, snapping the blade. So now that both combatants are without blades, are they going to resort to hand to hand combat?

"Shana! That's enough!" Someone stepped in between them.

"Yuji! Don't get in the way!"

So the girl's name is Shana?

"Hey, Shana is it?" The guy with spiky hair dropped his fists. "I think that's enough for a spar. Someone's going to get hurt if this keeps going."

"Hmph…fine." Shana turned her back to the guy named Yuji and her opponent, and walked away looking disappointed.

"Did you see that?" Hisao whispered into my ear.

How could I not see that?

"If they went for a bit longer, maybe we would've seen something spectacular, don't you think? Wahaha~!" Misha watched the guy with spiky black hair make his exit.

Misha…I'm sure that violence to that degree isn't spectacular…

….

That incident was probably the most memorable thing about this morning. The matches were pretty much the same. But the appearance of these two people whom both Koizumi and I seem to have seen in our vision doesn't bode well for me. Something big is probably going to happen soon. And whatever it is, I don't think I'm going to like it.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Hard Contact**

When we actually had reached our lunch break, Nara led us outside the competition zone to a nearby shopping center. I don't know where a lot of the other teams went, but it seems that the only people outside of our team that tagged along are Nara and Hisao. Since no one wanted to spend a ton of money, we ate fast food. Something called…WcDonalds I think. I tried to think back on what had happened in the morning. Let's see…Random bizarre images flashing at me like no tomorrow, trapped inside a barrier of some sort, and then meeting someone that I saw in a vision. I'm going to go out on a whim and say that none of it is good news in any way.

"You looked troubled. Did something happen?" Hisao apparently noticed me grimacing as I bit at my food.

"Uh, nothing. Just getting used to my surroundings."

"I see." Hisao took a sip out of his drink before continuing. "Before I went to Yamaku, I used to live in a city. I'm pretty used to this kind of setting already. I can't say it feels like home, but…"

"It's close enough, right?"

"Yeah, fairly close."

Silence suddenly enveloped the two of us. We really don't have much to talk about huh? Then again, we are closer to strangers than friends, so I guess that's to be expected.

"So, how did things go with Hanako after I left?"

Don't treat it like we were on a date.

"I didn't know she was so into chess. She seemed like the kind who'd read books all day. Sort of like Nagato."

Hisao chuckled softly. "Well, she does that too. I don't pay too much attention to what she reads, but I guess it is sort of spread out in terms of genres."

Is she better than your girlfriend at chess?

"I've only ever seen them play once." Hisao munched on a fry. "But…Let's just say that it wasn't the usual kind of chess. Hanako actually ran away."

Must've been a hell of a game if she bailed.

"You can say that again."

"Hey, Kyon." Haruhi pulled me away from my conversation, and whispered into my ear. "He's still the enemy remember? Don't let your guard down for even a moment, you hear me? The last thing I need is you spilling all our battle tactics."

Someday, they should make a rule about these games, saying that you need to get to know your enemy before you try to trample them underneath your heels.

"Is everything okay?" Hisao didn't seem to get what was wrong, and neither did I.

"Totally fine." Haruhi pulled away from me with an innocent smile. "Just telling him something important." She then whispered into my ear again. "Meet up at 1:00 PM sharp! We're going to discuss our afternoon battle plan with Yuki!"

She then walked back to the rest of the SOS Brigade plus Nara. I should point out that Hisao and I were sitting at a table pretty far away from them.

"Good grief…" I took another bite out of the burger I ordered. I can't even taste what I'm eating right now. The situation is really starting to get to me. I'm at the point where I can't even enjoy myself anymore.

"Well, your…friend certainly has some intensity." Hisao watched the Haruhi giving some sort of lecture to the rest of the Brigade.

"So does your girlfriend…Speaking of which, where did Shizune get off to?"

"She mentioned something about buying souvenirs with Misha. Hanako and Kenji…Well they sort of just went their own way."

Well, at least I won't have to worry about bystanders getting caught in this mess.

Just then, I heard a girl's voice. "You must really be in a bind if Miss Nagato isn't here to save you."

"Huh?!" I turned to face the source of the voice…Only to find myself face to face with empty space.

"Okay, tell me. Is something wrong?" Hisao stared at my confused face, concerned.

"Did you hear that just now?"

"Hear what?"

"A girl's voice."

Hisao pointed at Haruhi. "You mean asides hers? Nothing."

A chill went down my spine. I recognized that voice. I don't think I'd ever forget it. It was the voice that belonged to the class president that tried to kill me twice and nearly succeeded once; the voice of Ryoko Asakura. But how is that possible? There's no reason for her to appear now. Unless…

"…Something's not right here." I mumbled, feeling frustrated. Something is definitely coming for us. But I can't tell who or what it is.

"Well, if you need to chat." Hisao stood up, having finished his food. "I'm all ears. For now though, I'm going to find Shizune and Misha."

"Right, later."

Nodding, Hisao walked off and left the restaurant. I stuffed the remaining half of my burger into my mouth and finished it off before joining the rest of SOS Brigade.

"Hey, glad you can join us." Koizumi invited me to sit beside him. "We were just discussing our roles for the afternoon."

Great. Let's get this done so we can discuss our situation…Of course I couldn't say that out loud with Haruhi here, so I just silently sat down beside Koizumi.

"So, this is how it'll go." Haruhi had gotten a hold of a pen somehow, and was now jotting down stuff on a napkin. "Koizumi will be our bomb carrier, since he has the best reaction time. Since Nagato's aim is still sort of off, I'll be using the sniping weapons for long range confrontations. Given how the rest of the Brigade is, it is best if you use the SMGs and attack at a close distance so you don't have to aim your weapons as accurately. The same goes when we're on defense. And remember, always buy a defuse kit. Don't use the money you've earned for grenades until you've gotten that first."

In other words, you and Koizumi get to do all the work while the rest of us are bait?

"Well, if you three can't handle the fighting, you'll have to do work some other way." Haruhi grinned like a witch, closed the cap on the pen. "And I can't think of any other way but live bait."

Well, when we fight Hisao's team again, at least we'll be evenly matched, since both Hisao and I seem to have recovered from our drowsiness. And Kenji is blind, so that's about the same as Asahina. I can't gauge Hanako's abilities at video games as is, so that will have to wait until later.

"Actually, Miss Suzumiya, we're changing the game for the afternoon." Nara tapped the table to get her attention.

"Huh..?" Haruhi's expression was one of blank surprise. "Say what?"

"We're changing the game." Nara repeated, smirking. "It would be unfair to have the same game twice, so were switching it up."

"Gr…What a waste of time planning." Haruhi huffed anrgily and promptly tore up the napkin. "Alright, do as you please. And get back there before…When does the tournament resume?"

Nara took it upon himself to check his wrist watch. "Half an hour. One thirty is when it starts again."

"Okay. Do as you please, but get back to that lobby before 1:25. If you don't, it's the death penalty!" Haruhi waved her index finger in an arc, pointing at every single one of her brigade members.

Well, at least I can get some fresh air. I'll probably need it. After Haruhi's threat of a penalty, I walked outside the restaurant. It was close enough to the massive schoo- like building that I could see it in the distance. I won't wander too far, since I didn't bring enough money to buy anything here asides drinks and snacks. Koizumi didn't follow me, so I guess we'll be discussing the problem with the barrier later.

As I crossed the nearby intersection, I looked around me. Yagami was really like a small city. There were indeed notably large buildings, but it wasn't like Tokyo. It was one of those cities that would be small enough to be peaceful, but large enough to seem like a city. I could see large business buildings in the distance, and a few neighbourhoods on higher elevations of ground. It wasn't a particularly colourful city though. Most of the buildings had a shade of grey or white, but there were a few occasional oddly coloured building here and there. The only thing that didn't seem gray about this city besides those few buildings was the blue sky above the city. It might just be because of the side of the city we're in.

By the time I had finished that train of thought, I found myself standing in the parking lot of the big building the tournament was being held in. I checked my phone. There was still ten minutes before things got underway. I won't have much time for exploring, so I guess I'll head over to the players' lounge. If there's one thing the tournament organisers got right, it was making signs telling us where to go almost every step of the way. I approached the main entrance. It had a big sign over top of it with the words "Yagami Video Game Convention here!" written in large and colourful font. I had overlooked it earlier since I was dragged inside the place while I was half-asleep. Somehow, this whole tournament just felt really…What's the word…I can't think of it right now, but it just feels off somehow.

As I put my hand on the entrance door handle, I was struck by another spell of dizziness.

"Son of a…" I tried to steady myself against the door. Damn it, this was even worse than last time's. I'm going to hurl…

Everything in my vision gained a deep red tint. As my head swirled back and forth while I tried to stay steady, the door in front of me suddenly melted away into oblivion somehow, and I fell down to the ground. I couldn't keep myself up any longer. Though I was dizzy, I tried to take a look around, since it seemed like I was no longer in front of the big building. As I forced my head up, I saw a girl standing in front of me. For a second I thought it was Shana because of her height, but I realized that this girl had long silver hair and a white and black school uniform. What I saw next was rather alarming. The girl had two long bloodstained blades protruding from the top side of her forearms. One of them was aimed at my eye.

"Shit…" I tried to scramble to my feet, but the dizziness was so immense that I just fell right back down, like someone who had forgotten how to stand. I don't know what it is with me being held at knife or blade point by psychotic girls, but this is ridiculous.

As the bloodstained blade neared my face, I suddenly heard a voice from behind me.

"Are you okay?"

That was all it took. The red tint in my vision was gone, and the silver-haired blade-armed girl was no longer there. Instead in front of me was the entrance to the big building I had just tried to enter a moment ago. The dizziness vanished as well, as if it were just my imagination.

I turned to look at my rescuer. It was a boy wearing glasses, a brown hoodie and gray jeans. Oh wait, I know him. He's uh… Haruhi Fujioka. The one that Haruhi (Suzumiya) had been checking out earlier.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just felt a bit dizzy and tripped." I managed to rise to a standing position with no difficulty this time around. "You're Haruhi Fujioka, right?"

"Yes. You were part of one of the starting teams this morning, right? I didn't catch your name though."

"Just call me Kyon." I extended my hand to him. Since he helped me out of…whatever it was, I owe him a handshake at least.

Haruhi took my hand and shook it. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah." I turned back to the doorway and pointed at the ground in front of it. "By chance, did you see a short girl with long silver hair standing there just a moment ago?"

Haruhi shook his head, looking rather worried. "All I saw was you falling down after you grabbed the door handle. I thought you were having a stroke or something. Are you sure you're alright?"

Yeah, I'm fine, but damn it. This one was particularly violent, and it can only be another bad omen.

"Go on ahead. The competition's starting again soon." I only said that because I didn't want to keep him waiting. Besides, there's no reason for him to be concerned.

"Alright. Good luck." Haruhi bowed, and entered the building.

As Haruhi left, I saw another figure approaching me. Of course, his sickening smile immediately told me who he was. Koizumi, you sure picked a good time to show up.

"My apologies, Haruhi held me up." Koizumi examined me from head to toe. "You look fine. Why did you collapse just a moment ago?"

So wait, you saw that?

"Indeed. Someone else got to you before me, and I felt that it would be inappropriate for me to interrupt, so I waited until he left." Koizumi frowned at me, as if I were a puzzle of some sort. "So, what exactly did happen?"

I explained in the simplest way I could: I got dizzy again and this time some girl with swords for arms appeared before me while the world around me disappeared.

"Silver hair, did you say?" Koizumi pulled out a black PDA of some sort from his pocket and wiped his finger across the screen, searching for something. His smile didn't return to his face, so I'm guessing he didn't find what he was looking for.

"Nara sent me team rosters just before I left the restaurant." Koizumi explained to me while putting away his PDA. "They had name and a portrait of the competitors. No one except Nara has silver hair, and he isn't even a competitor."

Okay well, let's ignore the problem of the unnatural hair colours. After all, the Shana I saw in my vision had blazing red hair, but the real person I saw didn't. What if this was the case as well?

"Well, by all means." Koizumi handed me his PDA. He didn't smile, but he seemed amused. "Take a look for yourself if you can find a similar person."

Trying my best to work with the PDA, I slid my finger across the screen slowly, checking every single portrait as carefully as I could. I took a little longer than Koizumi, but he was right. There wasn't anyone that resembled the girl I just saw. I closed my eyes and put my right hand on my forehead. I tried my best to recall the girl's face, but the only thing that I could remember was that her eyes were a dull shade of yellow, and as piercing and emotionless as Nagato's. None of the competitors had an unnatural iris colour according to the rosters.

"Let's go and finish the day off first." Koizumi took back his PDA, shrugging. "We can deal with this later."

Yeah, I suppose we don't really have much of a choice.

…..

The choice of game was done rather quickly. Once again, all teams were called to the theater, and the game chosen this time was StarCraft. The first teams were called up with the fancy projection effects and the announcing of each player's name. This time we weren't first, but we second in line, so it didn't really matter.

StarCraft was a real-time strategy game, in which you used workers to harvest resources to build buildings and combat units. When you run out of resources, you have to expand to a new resources site and harvest from there. The objective of the game was to completely destroy all enemy buildings or force your opponent to surrender. Simply put, it was all about resource and unit management, something I wasn't particularly good at.

Our battle plan played out just like in the morning with a few differences; this time Haruhi and Nagato were doing all the work, Koizumi and I were live bait, and Asahina sat out because this game had a player limit of four. Naturally with Nagato on our side, we stomped every team that we faced. Even Hisao's team was stunned by the ferocity of Haruhi and Nagato's forces. I'm going to have to guess that Nagato was using her experience from that time we played against the Computer Research Society. Whatever the reason, Haruhi was in high spirits, constantly shouting at the screen like a little kid as her and Nagato's units swept through whatever they came across. My units, along with Koizumi's were just meat shields and cannon fodder.

When all was said and done, we had secured the rank of first place with a record of 11-3 for both games played on Day 1. Well, at least we won't have to worry about Haruhi's mood for now.

"I'll see you later then. Good work today." Hisao exchanged a high-five with me before he left with his team. Shizune seemed most displeased with her defeat at Haruhi's, or should I say Nagato's hands. I couldn't help but notice the strained and angry look on her face as she got into the Sedan that her team was using.

"Oh yeah! We rock!" Haruhi on the other hand was ecstatic, jumping up and down as we left the big building. "This is how the SOS Brigade should deal with all its foes! Crush them until absolutely nothing remains! I wish life was more like that StarCraft game."

Whoever it is that controls this world from above, I'm pleading to you. Please ignore what Haruhi just said.

"Well, we turned out a rather stellar performance." Koizumi simply decided to accept the outcome. "If we keep this up, we should do just fine."

"Kyon…" Asahina poked me in the back twice.

"What is it?"

"I'm…" Asahina looked like someone who hadn't passed an important exam as she gripped the hem of her dress. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to help much. I'm not very good at video games."

I consoled her. "Don't worry about it. You did what you could." There really wasn't a problem with that. Everyone's got things they're good and bad at. Besides, with Haruhi and Nagato leading the way, we did just fine. Even I wasn't of much use.

"Really…? Thanks, Kyon." Asahina smiled at me, relieved that I didn't hold anything against her. I honestly don't know how I could ever hold such a small thing against the angel of the SOS Brigade.

"By the way, you guys." Nara kept pace with us as we entered the parking lot. "We're thinking of hitting a Karaoke place in a bit. You interested?"

"That would be nice, but I'd like to get some rest." Koizumi was the first to answer, and his tired smile clearly indicated that he needed some off time.

"Karaoke, huh? Count me in!" Haruhi was pumped up already. That's to be expected. I know how good her singing can be.

I decided to speak on behalf of Nagato and Asahina. "I think Nagato and Asahina have had enough for today. They should get some rest."

Nagato of course was silent, but she did comply by nodding. Asahina gently whispered a "Yes".

"Okay then, so it's just Kyon and Haruhi, right?" Nara pressed a button on his car keys and unlocked a van's doors. "If you two could wait here, I'll drop off these three first, and then I'll come back to pick you up."

"Sure!" Haruhi gave Nara a dazzling and excited smile. "We'll be right here."

"Roger that." Nara shifted up his headband, once again revealing his left eye and its crimson iris. It unnerved me just as it did the first time I saw it. "Be back in a bit."

After Koizumi, Nagato, and Asahina got into van, Nara pulled out of the parking space and left the building. Guess it's just me and Haruhi for a while.

"Say Kyon." Haruhi walked over to me and placed her hand on my forehead.

"What do you think you're doing?" I peeled her hand off my forehead. I seriously don't know what you're thinking, but don't treat me like a sick person.

"I'm trying to guess your temperature, you idiot!" Haruhi slapped her hand back down on my forehead, but since she had a sincerely distraught expression, so I didn't resist. "The other Haruhi told me that he saw you collapse. And it worries me."

Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I just tripped.

"Are you sure you're not downplaying the problem?" Haruhi stared at me intently, her face only about ten centimeters from my face. I feel rather uncomfortable with her this close. "You seemed a little off in the morning as well."

"Yeah, I'm totally fine."

Upon hearing that, Haruhi pulled back away from me, taking her hand off my forehead. "Well, if you insist." She huffed and turned away with her arms crossed.

I sighed in relief. I really don't like it when Haruhi does stuff like that. I'm not good at making excuses when she gets too serious.

But I still had a lingering feeling of anxiety. I was worried that my problem with the visions may become exponentially worse. If they start becoming worse than visions, then I've got a serious problem. I'll have to talk to Nagato about this as soon as we finish up with Karaoke. Not that I plan to sing, mind you.

…..


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Level One, Big Shell**

Karaoke was exactly as I had expected. Nara got back, picked us up, and drove us to a Karaoke place in the heart of Yagami. It wasn't anything particularly special, asides for the fact that we were doing this out of town. The place itself wasn't unique either: A reception desk, washrooms, a place that sold snacks and a ton of rooms comprised this Karaoke bar. I was starting to think that maybe I would've been better off getting some rest with the rest of the SOS Brigade. I lost count of how much time had gone by.

Right now, I was sitting on a sofa inside a dimly lit room with a ton of people I didn't know, and they all seemed to be having a blast singing. Haruhi was enjoying herself as well. In fact, I think she's had the most time with the microphone.

"So, enjoying this so far?"

Despite being the one who invited us, Nara didn't participate in Karaoke at all.

"I've never really been one for singing. I'm mostly here just to keep an eye on her."

"You two seemed to have a close relationship. Have you considered asking her out?"

It's quite far from what you might be thinking. I'm just acting as her voice of reason. I can hardly believe that you'd be as tactless enough to ask that question. Though I'll admit, if she gets a boyfriend in the future, it'd take a load off my shoulder. I'm pretty sure Koizumi would be delighted at the decrease in workload as well.

"I was only joking." Nara chuckled. "Koizumi gave me a rundown of your Brigade after you left. It seems that you guys do a lot of fun things. It makes me jealous, you know. Average high school students like me don't ever get that chance."

Well, would you be willing to trade places with me? I'd even pay you an hourly wage if you're willing to swap.

"I think I'll let you have the fun instead." Nara shrugged, and turned his attention back to the other people in the room.

"Speaking of which." I motioned in the general direction of the other people. "Who are these people anyway? They're not competitors."

"Ah, they'd be the students attending Yagami High. They're good friends of mine."

Even though you don't attend school here?

"I knew some of them as a child. Back before I met Koizumi of course."

Now it could've just been me being overly suspicious, but I had a feeling that something was off with Nara's alibi. He knew Koizumi from Junior High, Hisao's group from high school, and these people here as a child? It seemed awfully convenient for him to have these connections. Naturally, I couldn't probe into this since I didn't want to violate his privacy in some way if I was wrong. There wasn't anything wrong with him as an individual. I still trusted him of course. But I'm sure that he's pulling strings in some way. He might really be working with Koizumi's group to keep Haruhi from being bored.

"Hey, Nara! Kyon!" Haruhi sat down in between us. "You two should try singing! Why would you come to a Karaoke place and not sing?"

"Sorry, Miss Suzumiya. Allow me to try one then." Nara asked a girl to queue a song using a tablet.

"What about you Kyon?" Haruhi jabbed me in the side. "Pick a song!"

Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly in the mood for the whole "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" idea. So I decided that I'd head out for some fresh air.

"I'm heading out for a bit. Maybe when I get back."

Haruhi seemed disappointed with my response. Her lips pouted into waterfowl status.

"Fine."

I stood up and left the room. By the time I reached the exit however, I realized someone had followed me out.

"Hey, you were one of the competitors today, right?"

I turned around to discover that the source of the gruff voice was the tan-skinned tall guy with sunglasses that we'd encountered in our first match. It was strange to see that he was here of all places.

"Yeah, I was. I remember you as well. You were in the starting matches in the morning with us, right?"

"Yeap. I was only there to fill a spot though."

He seemed intimidating, but maybe there was more to him than meets the eye.

"I don't think we've properly introduced ourselves yet." He stretched his hand out towards me. "I don't usually do this, but my name is Kenji Harima."

"Call me Kyon." I took his hand and shook it.

"Right. So, why are you out here? Shouldn't you be partying with them in there?"

Well, I should be. But I've never been one for Karaoke parties. Truth be told, I'd rather be back at the house sleeping. Actually, even before that, I needed to ask Nagato about the deal with the barrier. Of course, I couldn't tell Harima any of that, so I just said that I wanted to get some fresh air.

"That's fine then." Harima exhaled. "Hey, Kyon, was it? Let me ask you something. Have you ever been in love with someone before?"

…I stand corrected. This guy isn't intimidating. He's a little on the weird side.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask? Have you?"

"Just something I was curious about." Harima looked up at the sky, towards the moon. It was probably really late at night now. "I have. And I still am. The truth is I came here today because I wanted to see the girl that I am in love with."

Well, now you've actually got me curious. Would you care to explain?

"Well, let's sit down first. It's going to be a long story."

So, we sat down at a coffee table outside of the Karaoke bar, and Harima told me his story.

He said that before he met this girl, he was a good for nothing punk. He'd run away from home, and spent most of his time beating up other people. But one day, he saved a girl from someone, and he ended up falling for her. But due to a misunderstanding, she thought that he was a molester. As a result, he started wearing sunglasses to hide his face, and joined her school in hopes of seeing her again. Ever since, he's become a different person. Harima said that he'd tried to confess many times, but each attempt ended in failure. School-wise, he's still not academically involved like a good student should be, but he's had fun being in the same class as that person. He's become a well-rounded person, and he started drawing manga. A future away from fighting had appeared for him because of this girl he met.

"But Tenma-chan…" Harima sighed. "Tenma-chan's in love with someone else. I don't know what she sees in him, but it hasn't made my job easy either."

"Honestly though, it seems to me that you've done a lot. You've changed for the better, right?"

"Yes. But I want to be together with Tenma-chan. I want to make her happy, the same way she has made me happy." Harima took off his sunglasses. "That's why I've been working so hard."

"I see."

What else could I say? I've never had any experience with love or…whatever kind of ailment that Harima has. It really seems like love doesn't just make you blind. It can also cause a ton of brain damage. In the case of Harima, I don't know whether to be worried or to cheer him on. He seems so committed that only death would be able to stop him.

"But there's a benefit to loving another person. It gives you courage. The courage to do things that you would normally be too chicken to do. It isn't such a bad thing."

"Well, you better work at it, right?" A third voice interjected.

Standing behind Harima, Nara was smirking. "Miss Tsukamoto isn't going to give up on Karasuma anytime soon. You have to- "

"I know." Harima stood up and faced Nara with a determined grin. "It's going to change in this new school year. Just you watch."

After that remark, Harima walked past Nara and was about to enter the Karaoke bar again, before he paused and gave us a parting remark.

"Nara, Kyon. You're both pretty good people. You should keep your friends close. Who knows. Maybe there'll be a time when they're confused and alone, and you're the only ones who can make a difference."

"Hey, Harima." I wanted to ask him one last thing. "What do you think it means to be in a relationship with someone?"

"Heh…" He faced me with a cocky smirk. "That very question tells me how much of a dolt you are. Don't worry though. I was like that once too."

He then walked back into the bar.

I didn't quite get what he meant, so Nara decided to clarify.

"What Harima meant was that it varies from person to person. His idea of a relationship will be different from yours."

Did Harima ever tell you what his idea was?

"He said the same thing as a friend of mine. My friend once told me that being in a relationship means…To share special moments with the person you love and to allow those moments to accumulate." Nara scratched his head. "Something like that. Simple and really admirable. Harima is not a great human being, but he's got a heart of gold. He's also not a pervert either. That's also good."

The antithesis to teenage adolescence, huh?

"Well, that's an interesting way to put it. Yeah, something like that. However…" Nara frowned suddenly. "Harima usually isn't this open to people he's just met. Something might be up."

"Hey! Kyon!"

Haruhi somehow warped over to where we were and seized me by the collar.

"Come on, you've had your fresh air. It's time for you to sing!"

I found myself being dragged along back into the bar, despite my protests of "I don't want to sing."

Oh joy...

…

It was about 11:30 at night when I got back to our lodgings. Nara dropped us off and went back to his own place. Apparently he was supposed to be doing some preparations for tomorrow's event, so he wouldn't be staying with us today.

"I'm going to bed."

That was the first thing that left Haruhi's mouth after we took off our shoes. I found this to be rather peculiar, given her usual boundless energy when it came to staying up late doing things. Actually, my jaw almost dropped.

"Are you tired?"

"Yeah, I just…" Haruhi rubbed her eyes. She really looked like she was struggling to stay awake.

I would've been worried normally, but considering how long we stayed up last night, maybe it isn't so shocking. Despite her supernatural powers, she's still has the body of a healthy adolescent girl.

"You should probably sleep then."

"It's weird though." Haruhi was halfway upstairs as she said this. "I only started feeling fatigued after we left Karaoke. I was fine before that."

Then it must've taken quite the toll on her. I'm fairly sure people need sleep after a day like today. Just take Miss Asahina for example. She's probably sleeping peacefully right now.

"Any way, I'm going to take a bath and just sleep. You can stay up late, but be ready for tomorrow! You better be useful, or heads will roll!" Haruhi still managed to give me an order and a threat, despite her fatigue. Huh.

Well, I wasn't going to wait for her to be completely out of sight. I just hope that Haruhi doesn't wake up Asahina. It's never good to wake someone up when they're sleeping in this situation.

I went up the stairs as well and went to Koizumi's room. I knocked on his door. Once. Twice. Thrice. No answer.

"Hey, Koizumi, you there?"

The door opened shortly after I said that, and I found myself staring at Koizumi clad in sleeping wear with an exhausted grin plastered on his face.

"I am, but I'd prefer it if you'd keep your volume down. Well, come in then."

I did as he said, and to my surprise, I found Nagato there as well. She was sitting on Koizumi's bed, still wearing her glasses and her outdoor attire.

"So…" I closed the door behind me and sat down on the floor. "Would you care to explain why Nagato is in your room?"

Koizumi sat down on the chair in front of the desk that was in the room. He still looked exhausted, which made me wonder if he was faking it or not.

"After you and Miss Suzumiya left, Miss Nagato and I tried to assess the barrier encompassing this city. We've been at it for some time now, and we've only gotten some patterns and behaviours."

So, can you say this in a way that I can understand?

"The barrier is a dimensional shift. It is an isolated occurrence that has altered the space-time continuum data." As usual…Nagato's explanations are hard to understand.

"Come again?" I scratched my head.

"She's saying that the barrier that we found is currently changing our reality in some way. Do you remember the cave cricket incident? This barrier is like the space that we found that cricket in, only on a much larger scale. There's no doubt that this barrier was created by someone."

So you're saying that there's someone who's trying to mess with us again?

"Not necessarily, no." Koizumi crossed his arms with a thoughtful look. "We know what this barrier is doing, but we're not sure of the specifics yet. Miss Nagato is still trying to assess what exactly it is doing to reality here."

Nagato's head bobbed up and down as Koizumi said that. "There is a firewall preventing me from accessing data manifests regarding the origin of the dimensional shift. I am currently hacking through the security measures."

Wait, so if you can hack it, does that mean that it's similar to the kind of stuff that you do?

"Yes. The dimensional shift also implements a spatial blockade and data lockdown. Reversing the process to allow access is difficult but possible. The dimensional shift is similar to what the Integrated Data Sentient Entity's interfaces are capable of creating. However, this instance of dimensional shift is much greater in magnitude."

…You sound like you're flipping through a dictionary and picking out words at random.

Koizumi's usual smile had finally reappeared. "Allow me to simplify this for you. What she's saying is that this barrier similar to the kind of closed spaces that interfaces can make. She's also saying that this is much bigger than anything that they usually use."

As Koizumi said that, I remembered that classroom that Ryoko Asakura trapped me and Nagato in.

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

We sat in silence for a while. I don't know if Nagato needs concentration the same way humans do when they're doing a task, but I feel better letting her work.

…

"Access granted."

I bolted upright, attentive again, after hearing Nagato's voice.

"You did it?"

"Yes. I am able access data manifests now."

"Alright then. Let's figure out what this is all about."

Koizumi nodded, give his affirmative.

Nagato closed her eyes for a few seconds. That's when everything just went nuts.

"WHOA!"

Everything suddenly started shaking, as if a magnitude 8 earthquake came out of nowhere and hit us. Forget Asahina and Haruhi, this should wake up the whole neighbourhood, Hisao's team included!

Koizumi fell right off of his chair and landed face first on the ground. I grabbed onto the door handle to avoid falling over. Nagato was still sitting on Koizumi's bed, with her eyes still closed.

"Nagato! Stop! Something's wrong!"

Nagato opened her eyes again, but the violent movement of the floor didn't.

"Data access partially completely. Request has been halted."

God, what now?

"Nagato! What's going on?!"

Koizumi was on his knees now, at a loss for words.

"Accessing the data manifests created instability in the dimensional shift. Control is being lost."

Oh, what the hell…This is just great. And just when I thought it couldn't get worse, the floor below me glowed green.

"Koizumi, any idea what's going on?!"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Koizumi's reply was rather frantic, which was a first. The green glow surged, and Koizumi was promptly enveloped by a green orb that came out of the ground.

"Koizumi!"

The green orb pulsed once, and phased back through the floor. Another green orb came out of the ground and grabbed Nagato, pulling her through the floor.

"Oh shit…"

I don't think I need to guess who was next. I tried running out of the room, but something grabbed my legs and tripped me down. An eerie green glow completely covered my vision, before I suddenly lost all sense of my surroundings.

It was like I was on some kind of broken rollercoaster going at 88 miles an hour. I couldn't feel gravity at all, and it felt as if I was on another one of those time traveling trips with Miss Asahina. I felt like I was going to puke my guts out at any moment. It was a vortex where I was getting tossed and thrown.

"Argh...I really…Can't take this anymore…My vision is going fuzzy and black…"

"…Nagato…Koizumi…"

… 

When I came to again, I could hear the sound of something dripping. Water maybe? I still had my eyes closed, as I felt rather drowsy. The next thing that got my attention was an acute smell of…something sharply metallic. It seemed familiar…I remember a similar smell from when I got nosebleeds. When I opened my eyes, I saw a scene that looked like something out of a horror movie.

I was no longer in Koizumi's room. Now I was lying against a wall at the end of a gray corridor, covered in blood. And in front of me, were tons of bodies of dead soldiers. Lying in pools of blood with cuts on their bodies and knives stuck into them. The dripping sound I head was probably because of that.

"Holy…What?"

Surprisingly, I quickly got over the shock of seeing so many dead people. I was like the lone survivor of a slasher film. I had absolutely no idea where I was, but I wasn't in Yagami anymore. It seemed like the hallway was part some kind of transformer room. Like the kinds on big cargo ships where there'd be a lot of control panels and electrical transformers? I tried to get up. It seems that I didn't suffer any injuries from that green orb from earlier. The blood covering me apparently wasn't my own, since I didn't feel any cuts or stab wounds in my body. As I stood straight again, I realized that an assault rifle was firmly gripped in my right hand. I noticed because as I got off the ground the weight of the rifle slowed me down a bit. I took a deep breath. I'm guessing that whatever killed these soldiers is still around here somewhere, so I had to be on my guard.

"Freeze!"

My heart skipped a beat as I heard that. My blood turned cold when I heard the clicking of a gun right next to my head…The universe seems to love slapping me in the face, doesn't it?!

"Drop your weapon and put your hands behind your head!"

Oddly enough, the person pointing a gun at my face standing to my right had a rather young sounding voice. Even more oddly, he was speaking English. Oddest of all, I understood what he was saying.

"Alright. Don't shoot." I said that in English of course. Nervously and fluently, without an accent like I usually did when I tried to speak English.

I dropped my gun on the ground, rather carelessly so it made a rather unpleasant sound when it hit the metal covering the floor. I then placed my hands behind my head and turned to face the person with the gun.

"A SEAL, huh?" The man lowered his pistol. He had blond hair a bit shorter than shoulder length, and he was wearing some kind of grey suit that resembled a skeleton. It seemed to be pressurized or something, probably not something that many normal soldiers would wear. "You're part of Alpha team?"

I…Have no clue what you're talking about.

"Do you have amnesia? Can you tell me your name and rank?"

Before I could answer "I don't know that either", he grabbed the dog tags that was concealed behind the blood-stained vest I was wearing.

"Lieutenant Junior Grade John Smith, huh?" He allowed the dog tags to fall back onto the vest, and then placed his left hand over his left ear.

A moment later, he picked up the rifle I had dropped earlier and handed it to me. "I'll need your help. Let me brief you really quickly since you've lost your memory. We're on the Big Shell Decontamination Facility about 30 kilometres off the shore of Manhattan. Terrorists have taken over the facility and are holding the president hostage and are demanding $30 billion as ransom. If we don't rescue the president in time and stop them, they'll destroy this facility. You got that?"

Uh, yeah. For the most part. Asides from the fact that I still have no clue as to _why_ I'm here. Of course, I couldn't say that out loud.

"Got it. I'll follow your lead."

What else could I say? It seems like this is still real life, so I'll probably die if I die. If I stick with him, and he knows what's going on, at least I have a better chance at surviving.

"Say." I realized I still hadn't asked him for his name yet. "What's your name?"

"Call me Raiden." He turned his back towards me and leaned against the right wall of the corridor. "Now let's go. We need to find whatever it was that killed off your team." Slowly, he moved forward towards a door at the end of the corridor.

I followed suited, keeping about a foot of distance between myself and him. Something tells me that I won't be going to bed anytime soon now. And I'm still tried as hell. Just one freaky thing after another, huh?

…..


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Level 2, Vanquished**

As I followed Raiden towards the door, I took a quick inventory of the items I had. I had the rifle in my hands, two clips of bullets in the left pocket of the vest I was wearing, a hand grenade in the upper right pocket of the vest, a handgun holstered on my right side, and a flashlight. I'm guessing that the vest I had was bulletproof, but I had no way of knowing for sure unless I get shot that – and I'll be quite honest, I'd rather avoid being shot at.

When we reached the doorway, Raiden moved in first and I followed a half-beat later. Inside the room that the doorway led to, not surprisingly, were tons of bodies strewn around, covered in blood. Normally I'd be scared out of my wits and overpowered by the smell of fresh blood, but for some reason I was totally calm. It surprised me a little as well, but unfortunately, there were more surprises that just that. It seemed that we found the actual transformers of the structure; there were two levels of course, the control panels and the transformers themselves. What was concerning was the sounds coming from the lower floor. It sounded like someone was being eaten by a vicious animal.

Raiden signalled to me to get down as we approached the stairway leading to the lower floor. I ducked down quickly, and he peeked out from the corner first. A look of shock found its way to Raiden's face. I stretched my neck a little to look over his shoulder, and instantly understood the reason for the shocked look. For there was a man wearing a trench coat pinning another man against a wall, and biting into his neck. Now I've heard of this in horror films before, so I'm assuming that this guy was either a zombie or a vampire…Judging by the scenes prior, I'd assume the latter. As that thought passed through my head, the man turned around with bloodstained teeth, and upon seeing myself and Raiden, growled menacingly.

"Oh shit…" I instinctively raised my gun up shakily and aimed it at the vampire or whatever it was.

Raiden brought up his gun as well, but he hadn't quite recovered from the sight. "What the hell are you?"

The vampire guy dropped the man he was just biting and turned his attention on us. His chest was bare for us to see, and I noticed that he had several cuts on it…Almost like tallies…Uh-oh…

Flicking out a knife from inside his coat, the vampire guy etched another tally on his chest. "So, today I have got eight."

I wasn't going to wait around for that to happen. I pulled the trigger on my gun as hard as I could and held it down.

"Ahhhh!"

The gun's muzzle flashed rapidly, and kicked violently in all directions. By the time I let go of the trigger, the vampire guy was no longer there. Though I'd at least hit him once, judging by the amount of bullet holes in the body of the man that the vampire guy had left behind.

Much to my surprise however, the vampire guy sudden appeared above me with a savage and bloodthirsty grin. In both his hands were knives, and they were pointed right at my heart. I couldn't get out of the way in time. This wasn't fair! Humans don't stand a chance against the super natural!

Before the knives could stab into my body, Raiden did some quick thinking and roundhouse kicked the vampire guy in the chest, sending him back a few feet. Raiden then fired off a few shots at him, but the vampire guy threw some of the knives he was holding, which somehow managed to hit the bullets and stop them dead in their tracks.

"Raiden…" I tapped him on the shoulder nervously, for it seems that fear had finally found me again. It's like that time I was trapped in another dimension with Ryoko Asakura. "We don't stand a chance. We need to get the hell out of here!"

"Go, I'll cover you." Raiden trained his gun on the vampire guy, but his face was white like a ghost's. He knew he didn't stand a chance either.

"Neither of you will be leaving." The vampire guy suddenly jumped up against the ceiling and then dived at me, pinning me down.

"Get off!" I twisted and turned as hard as I could, but the vampire guy just wouldn't budge! He was either made of steel or just ridiculously strong. A knife shot up into the air as quick as a flash, and it was aimed right at my right eye. The knife then plunged down, and was mere centimeters away from me now.

Damn it, damn it, damn it! This can't be happening. Am I really going to die like this?

…It would seem that fate was kind to me this time.

"Get down!" A voice barked from the upper floor.

Bullets then flew down towards my direction. I squeezed my eyes shut for fear that one would hit me, but I wasn't even scratched. I opened my eyes and upon seeing that the vampire guy was no longer there, looked towards the stairway. Standing there was another Navy SEAL. Considering that he had no blood on him whatsoever, he probably just got here. I don't think there were any survivors from before.

The SEAL looked left and right, trying to find the vampire guy. He inched slowly down the staircase, and stood a few feet away from us. I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my gun as well. Raiden was also looking around.

"Hmm…Lucky devils."

Simultaneously, the three of us turned and aimed our guns towards the source of the voice. The vampire guy was standing on the upper floor, looking down on us and laughing evilly.

"It seems that there are other things I must attend to. I'll deal with you later."

With that, he turned away and disappeared.

"Hey!" Raiden fired a shot after him, but it hit nothing but the metal ceiling. The sound of an automated door opening and closing followed.

"He must've taken the other exit. Damn it!" The other Navy SEAL sat down in frustration.

Hold on. That voice…It sounds familiar. Like I'd heard it just a day ago or something…

"Hey, who are you?"

The Navy SEAL gave me a look, and took off his balaclava mask. My jaw nearly dropped at whose face was underneath that mask.

"Kenji…?!"

"Huh?" Kenji frowned, eyeing me suspiciously. "You know my name? Who are YOU? How do you know me, and- "

"Hey, cut it out you two." Raiden interjected, obviously annoyed by our lack of professionalism. "You're both from SEAL Team 10, right? Of course you'd know each other."

"SEAL Team 10?" Kenji bolted up, looking insulted. "I'm not part of any team! I came here on my own!"

Kenji looked different too. He had a lot more facial hair than I remembered; a moustache and a bit of a beard. He looked older too. Just slightly, so he looked like he was in his early twenties now. Actually, now that I think about it I haven't gotten a chance to look in a mirror yet. I don't know if my appearance has changed at all.

Raiden was rather confused by Kenji's remark, so Kenji decided to follow up on his comment. "I stole a uniform from a guy I found knocked out earlier. There's an even bigger conspiracy at hand here…The feminists have made their move, and I, being the only one who knows the threat the pose, infiltrated the Big Shell to stop them."

After looking at Kenji as if he was an escapee from an asylum, Raiden placed two fingers on his right ear again for a moment, before asking "What the hell are you talking about?"

Kenji's expression hardened, looking rather stern. "I knew you'd be ignorant of the danger. So I'll spell it out for you. Kidnapping the president and demanding a ransom isn't the end of it. They'll blow this place no matter what you do. And who has to do the clean up once that happens? The men! Men from all walks of life will be affected by the destruction of the Big Shell, and they'll all try to do something about it. While they're busy dealing with the environment, the feminists will start to seize power from the unsuspecting masses of men…Very soon, with the men out fixing everything, the feminists will establish a dictatorship in the United States, and all men will be enslaved to them! And that'll be just the start! Once they have control of the world's most powerful nation, they'll take over the world, trampling on the rights and freedoms of men! And so, now that you know the danger that they pose, you two MUST help me stop them!"

…Kenji…No matter what you say or what you believe, real world or not, people will think that you are batshit insane. I don't think anyone in the world even pays attention to your crackpot theories, let alone take them seriously.

Raiden was evidently unimpressed as well. "So let me get this straight. You think that…"Feminists" are going to take over the United States, so you pretend to be a Navy SEAL, sneak into a facility taken over by terrorists? If that isn't insane, I don't know what is. You're acting on information that can't even be confirmed and you threw yourself in the middle of a battlefield?"

Kenji sighed, disappointed with Raiden's response. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. That's too bad; I guess I'll just have to stop these guys on my own. But mark my words: They'll blow this place up no matter what you do."

"Who said you could leave?" Raiden grabbed Kenji by the shoulder and forced him onto his feet, hardly containing his frustration with Kenji. "I don't know what the hell you're doing here, but civilians and hostages must be evacuated and that includes you. You're staying with us, and you will help ME stop the terrorists if your goal is really that important to you."

"Actually, you're helping me. But there's no difference I guess." Kenji sneered in Raiden's generally direction.

…Off to a great start guys…Teamwork...Yay…

"Any idea who that vampire guy was?" I wanted to change the subject before these two try to strangle each other.

"Heh." Kenji pushed Raiden away with a glare, before pointing towards a throwing knife lying on the ground. "His name is Vamp. He's a Romanian who's quite adept with throwing knives, as you've seen. He isn't an ordinary human though. I hear that he's an immortal with superhuman powers."

"It seems you know your stuff, kiddo." A gruff voice replied.

The three of us turned our guns towards the stairway, where another Navy SEAL was now standing. Is this going to keep happening? Random Navy SEALs appearing from out of nowhere?

"I'm not an enemy. Calm down. My name is S... My name is Pliskin. Iroquois Pliskin. I'm a Lieutenant Junior Grade."

He removed his balaclava, revealing the face of a middle aged man. I could tell just by looking in his eye that he was probably a veteran. There's something different in the face of a person who's been on the battlefield for a while.

Raiden lowered his gun, albeit quite slowly. "How did you get into the Big Shell?"

Pliskin scoffed. "Fast rope descent from a navy chopper." He descended the stairs and leaned against the adjacent wall. As he did, a bug crawled out from his clothing, which caught my attention for a second or two.

Raiden, looking more bewildered than ever, placed two fingers against his right ear again. I don't know what he was doing; maybe check his pulse or something? His hand wasn't there for more than a second.

"Alright…Well, if we're all done here, we need to secure the President." Raiden headed up the stairway.

"The President?" Kenji exclaimed in protest. "We need to stop those terrorists first! It doesn't matter if the President survives if this place blows up!"

"Kid…" Pliskin grabbed Kenji and slammed him against the wall, shaking him. "You need to calm down. We're not going to charge out there just to get slaughtered. We need to analyze this situation carefully."

Even though this might sound bad, I'll agree with Kenji; forget the President, I need to find Haruhi and the rest of the Brigade. If they're here, I don't think they stand much of a chance against a vampire with throwing knives. If Kenji is here, it's likely that we weren't the only ones who were pulled in, so that means I might need to find Hisao's group as well.

I was just about to say something when a massive green hand shot out of the ground, which made everyone jump. With a single pulse of radiant green light, it snatched Kenji out of Pliskin's grasp and pulled him into the ground.

"What the hell?!" Pliskin drew his gun and shot at the hand a few times before it disappeared, but the bullets passed right through it.

Another green hand emerged from the wall to my right. I tried diving to my left out of the way. But as if I were super magnet of some sort, the hand flew towards me and grabbed me by the legs, gripping me tightly.

"GET OFF OF ME!"

I shot at the hand, and when that didn't work, I let the gun fall to my side. I punched the hand furiously, squirming and struggling with all my might, but to no avail. The hand was just too strong. It was like trying to wrestle a bear five times my size. Raiden dashed down the stairway and grabbed my left arm, and Pliskin grabbed the right. They couldn't pull me free though. With a single motion, the hand pulled me towards the wall. Of course, instead of smashing into a wall, I fell right through, and landed face first. I could taste a mouthful of dirt…

Wait…Dirt?

I opened my eyes again, and my vision was a little shaky. But I could see that I was in the middle of...a ruined city…It was just like out of some movie. Destroyed buildings, gray skies, rusted street signs...And a gust of wind that kicks up dust and dirt.

I slowly got up to my feet, and examined my gun, which was somehow still strapped to me. It was no longer the plain looking assault rifle I had a moment ago, but it was now a weird looking rifle with a crazy amount of shiny metal, neon lights, and even a small pop out screen that had a number on it.

"…"

I then looked at the rest of my body, and saw that I no longer had the Navy SEAL uniform I had found myself in, but I was now encased in some kind of futuristic armour. It was similar to the gun, in the sense that it was shiny and metallic, and it had neon lights everywhere. I…Guess I hit 88 miles an hour when that hand pulled me in? Even worse, if I'm in a city now, it's going to be damn near impossible to find the rest of the SOS Brigade.

A loud explosion came from my right, and before I could react, a large shadow loomed over me, and the only thing I could see clearly was a pair of sinister-looking red eyes.

…


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Level 2, Vanquished: Rock On! **

"Wah!"

Instinctively, I aimed up my rifle and squeezed the trigger. I'm willing to bet if the trigger had feelings, it'd be very sad right now; I don't think I've ever pulled anything so quick with so much force before. But I was scared out of my wits, so I couldn't do on that too much.

Rapid flashes and a few explosions later, the thing that jumped me was a smoking husk in front of me. It was…A giant cube? I don't know okay?! That's what it looked like to me. It was purple (and black, considering I pretty much incinerated the thing) with had a pair of stubby legs. Haven't seen anything like it so far. Maybe it's one of those data creatures like the one that we met during when we saved the Computer Club's President.

I slumped down and fell onto my rear. Even though the thing looks harmless on the surface, I'm sure it could've done something horrible to me. It was pretty close, huh? I stared at the cube, or rather, what was left of it. Just where the hell did I end up now?

Something flew past me and blew a hole through the ground. I scrambled to me feet and did a 180. I saw two green hornet-like creatures hovering in the air. Their stingers or whatever fired that projectile was trained on me. Ah crap.

I'm not too confident in my marksmanship after the last gunfight, so I'm beating it! I bolted in the other direction, zooming past a few buildings while getting shot at by weird ball lasers. Oddly enough, I felt calm. I think my legs are slowing down. You know what else was funny as I was running? It seemed very enticing to just fall to the ground and let it embrace me. Even though there were creatures chasing me, I think the ground would save me. Yeah, I think I'll just do that. So I fell to the ground. It was very warm. Everything seemed to be fading away, and even the noise and sensation of the world around me seem to dim.

…

Haruhi…Nagato…

"Nagato?" A girl's voice entered my ear. "Do you mean the battleship?"

"Ah!" I somehow jumped about five meters up into the air. And my head smashed into something.

"Are you okay?"

Yeah fine…Just disoriented. I think I was being chased by something, and now I'm inside…Some kind of abandoned room. It was probably still inside the ruined city, judging by how low the ceiling was. I checked my extremities and then the rest of my body. No sign of injuries or anything.

Then I noticed the girl. It took me a moment to register this, but she had twin tails and blue eyes. She was only wearing a black bikini top, black short shorts, a pair of black knee high boots, and a black hooded jacket.

…Don't you feel cold wearing those?

"No, not really." The girl shrugged.

What happened to me?

"You were being chased by aliens. I saw you fall as you were running, so I brought you here."

…Oh…I see what happened. I must've fallen asleep. Considering how late it was when all this madness happened, I'm actually not surprised. At least I don't have narcolepsy. That'd be awful.

"PSS call." The girl suddenly said. "Rothcol, I found another friend."

I noticed then she was using a radio. Guess she's got friends.

"Oh, good! We're the last humans on Earth, so finding others is always good news."

Want to know what shocked me the most about that statement? Not the fact that it implied humanity was near extinction. It was the fact that it was Koizumi's voice was the one on the other side of the radio.

"Koizumi!" I grabbed the radio from the girl's hand. "It's me! Where the hell have you been?"

"Whoa hey, please calm down. It isn't nice to forcefully take things from others." Koizumi's probably smiling as he's saying that. Grr…

The girl didn't seem to mind though. She simply stared at me curiously.

"Koizuimi, Nagato is missing! You remembered what happened in the room, right?!"

"I have no clue why you're talking like we've already met. Perhaps I should talk to you in person."

Damn Koizumi. I see going to a different world still hasn't changed your pretentiousness.

The girl snatched the radio back. "Rothcol, should I bring him back to the trailer?"

Koizumi chuckles before responding "Sure. The more the merrier after all."

The girl nods. "Roger. Tally ho."

Wait what? Tally ho?

Before I even get to ask that the girl shut off her radio starts heading for the doorway. There wasn't actually a door there, so I suppose I had to follow her.

"Wait. What's your name?"

The girl paused, an expression of surprise appeared on her face for a moment. "I don't know. But Commander Marion called me Stella before."

"Alright, Stella will do then. Thank you for saving me."

"Hmm." A curt nod later, she was already outside the room. Guess I ought to hurry up if I don't want to be left behind.

…

When we left the ruined building, I noted that it was the base of a collapsed skyscraper. Guess that explains why the roofs were so low. It was probably used as an office building or something. The wind was still kicking up dust, and that was quite annoying. Though I must admit it was annoying because I couldn't get to watch this Stella girl. She's really cute looking (though not more than Miss Asahina) by my standards. I have to wonder how she managed to save me from those hornet-like aliens.

"Hey wait." I can't believe I just realized, but… "Did you see where my gun went?"

"I did not pick it up when you dropped it. I forgot." She looks like she really didn't care. Oh well, it wasn't really mine to begin with. But we should find it, considering how potent it is as a weapon.

We walked a few blocks before I'd get my answer about my first question though. For at the end of those few blocks, we came into an intersection. And once we made it to the middle of the intersection, we noticed a massive swarm of those hornet-like aliens coming at us. It wasn't just 10 or 20. There's got to be at least a hundred of them.

This'd be a good time to run.

"…" Without so much as batting an eyelash though, Stella materialized a giant black cannon in her right hand. No seriously, it was massive. Even bigger than her. How the hell is she lifting that thing up?

"That's not going to be enough for all of them."

Stella stared at the cannon for a moment before nodding. A bright blue flame suddenly ignited in her left eye – for a moment I thought her eye was really on fire, and then she chanted: "Gun Skill: Vulcan Cannon".

With a brilliant blue flash, the cannon started transforming before my eyes. Various parts of the cannon were shifting and clicking back into place. I could make out the shape of the transformed weapon a few seconds later: A twin tri-barrelled Gatling gun with massive magazines on both sides of the weapons.

I whistled. Now that might actually work.

Stella wasted no time in opening fire on the hornets. They fell one after another, either exploding or having huge chunks of their bodies blown out. That's when I noticed that while the Gatling gun ejected massive bullet shells, they were firing rocks. It's quite a display actually. Just as impressive as watching Nagato fight.

That's when I noticed that one of the hornets had the gun I was carrying before. It was near the back of the swarm, trying to scurry away quickly. Suddenly, I found myself sliding on the ground towards the hornet, aiming to take back the gun. It wasn't that I was hit from behind or something. But I somehow instinctively knew that on my suit there were propeller jetpacks attached to my boots and my back. So I slid under Stella's barrage of rocks, and seized the hornet by the wings. I then took the liberty of pummeling the hornet in the head with an electrically charged fist. Don't ask me how I figured out how to use the suit; I just knew.

I grabbed the gun and aimed upward. As I continued to slide on the ground, laser shot from the gun I held vaporized the hornets that Stella missed. Eventually realizing that they were outmatched, the remaining hornets retreated, flying away just as fast as they came. I got off the ground and dusted myself off. I have to say, this suit is totally badass! Normally I'm helpless against enemies like those, but with this suit and gun I could definitely take them on.

Stella dematerialized her gun and ran to me. "You are unhurt?"

I nodded. I didn't even break a sweat this time.

"Your suit is strange. No one in the PSS has anything like it. Are you really human?"

If I consider my role within the SOS Brigade, I'd be the MOST human out of all the brigade members.

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

Stella tilted her head, looking at me like I was some kind of suspicious person. "I have not seen anyone else fight like you. Their guns aren't like yours either."

Relax, I really am human. If I could figure out how to get…Well actually I do know how to take the suit off. For some reason that I can't explain, it seems that I have complete knowledge of the suit and how to use it.

I shrugged. "I'm not an alien, if that's what you're implying."

"You don't eat others?"

Huh? I raised an eyebrow. Eat others? Did everyone take up cannibalism in this world? 

"Hell no!" I waved my arms around. "That's disgusting!"

"Hmm…" Stella didn't seem convinced, but she let the matter slide.

I sighed. I really want to see a familiar face now. Koizumi, I hope to God you're not screwed up like that time Haruhi disappeared.

…..

"Well, this is new."

That's the first Koizumi said after seeing me.

"I don't think I've ever seen a power suit like that before. It definitely seems human in origin though. Hey, you think you could lend this to us? If we can duplicate it, we might be able to turn the tide of this war."

"…"

You might be wondering what happened before this. Stella brought me to their trailer as she said, and there were a bunch of soldiers there too. We were still in the ruined city, which I was told was San Francisco. All soldiers were wearing combat gear and stuff, but it didn't look futuristic at all. Rather, their gear looked like spec ops equipment that wasn't modern but not nearly as futuristic as mine. And it seemed that their guns still only fired bullets. So we were in the future, but not too far ahead. I should mention that I didn't even get introductions; the first thing that Stella did was tell Koizumi about my armour and my gun. We're standing outside the trailer right now actually. Stella was already inside the trailer.

"I think I could pull it off if we can get the materials needed." That was the guy named Alexei. Apparently he works as the…PSS's engineer. Yeah, that's what Stella called these guys. The PSS.

Rewind a moment, what war are we talking about again?

"Do you have your head on straight?" The Chinese guy named Xiaomin looked at me as if I had a few screws loose, just to emphasize his question. Great.

"I uh…Have some memory issues." That's the best I could come up with at the moment.

"Amnesia?" Koizumi's eyes lit up. "Just like her, huh? I should definitely fill you in on the details."

And so, it was Koizumi monologue time once again. It reminds me of the first time he took me into closed space. He gave a long winded explanation about how aliens attacked Earth, and as a result most of humanity was wiped out. He even went into specifics, like classes of aliens, how nukes killed off most of humanity, and…a lot of other stuff that I didn't pay too much attention to.

"So…We're the last humans alive." I rested my chin on my hand.

"Well, if you are human." Another soldier, named Bob, asked that.

"…" Okay, to prove that I am human, I will take off this suit.

I did just that. Of course I didn't have to do it manually. There was a switch that automatically disengaged the suit. It folded down and transformed slowly, compacting itself until it became a small white cube. It rested in front of my feet momentarily before I picked it up and tossed it to Alexei. I was concerned about what clothing I had inside, and it turned out that I was wearing a light gray pressurized suit, though it resembled swimming wear. It definitely wasn't civilian clothing in any event.

"It works with a biometric scan." I said. "It detects the presence of someone and creates the suit around the person. The jetpacks are powered by the hydrogen in the air, so you don't need fuel."

Normally I would never be able to pull off such an elaborate and well-worded explanation. To be entirely truthful, I don't even know what a biometric scan is, just that the suit uses it. It's a lot of random knowledge that somehow appeared in my mind.

"Wow…Did you create this?" Alexei tested out the suit. By pressing a green button on the cube, the cube unraveled itself onto Alexei and formed the suit. "This is awesome!"

"No, a scientist made it for me a long time ago."

…Oddly enough, I can't recall who the scientist is. I'm wondering if this is a past life sort of thing. Except that wouldn't make any sense, since I still remember the video game convention.

"So to take it off, you have to flip this switch inside the wrist gauntlet." As I said that, Alexei hit the switch, morphing the suit back into a cube.

"Alright, the three of us will go study this thing inside the trailer." Xiaomin grabbed Alexei and Bob by the shoulder and pulled them into the trailer, leaving Koizumi and me alone outside.

"So you have memories that don't belong to you either, right?" Koizumi smiled knowingly.

"You're the same, Koizumi?"

"Guilty as charged." Koizumi sighed. "Despite remembering what happened in the room, I also have memories of me being in this world. I had a niece. She was eaten by aliens."

That's rough. But they're not your memories, right?

"I can't say for sure. But I do know that I am Rothcol in this world; I have all of his memories."

But you're still Koizumi, right?

"Well of course. Putting that aside though, have you met anyone else? Miss Nagato or one of the Yamaku students?"

Well I did see Kenji, but after that I was grabbed by another green hand and sent here. I was in a different place before this one. Kenji was still going on about feminists and stuff, but he didn't know who I was. I didn't get a chance to ask him about the video game convention either.

"Can you tell me where you were? Before you were here in this city I mean."

In some offshore facility near Manhattan. I have no clue how I got to San Francisco.

"Well in that case, here's my theory. Miss Suzumiya's somehow the cause of this. I'm guessing that the barrier that we discovered earlier somehow melded with her power after Miss Nagato hacked into it. It seems that the very act of breaking the security on the barrier exposed it to Suzumiya's influence. The barrier was originally creating a dimensional shift, as Miss Nagato explained. By the looks of it, we seem to have several worlds overlapping with each other in some fashion now."

Koizumi crouched down and drew a diagram in the dirt. "Imagine for a moment that this is our world". He pointed at the circle. "Now, this is another world." Koizumi drew a second circle with part of it inscribed in the first circle, creating something that looked like a Venn Diagram. "Think of the parts of the circles that are overlapping as elements of the worlds that have mixed together."

How the hell did you already figure this out from being here for only a few hours?

"Well I haven't figured anything out. This is only my hypothesis. Based on what's happened to us. We're from a different world, but we have found ourselves in a new one. While I've only been here, you've said that you were moved from another location to here." He drew a third circle directly above the two. "If that's the case, we may not be dealing with only two worlds, but possible three, four, five, or even more than that."

Koizumi stood up again and smiled wryly, looking like a genius wannabe.

"Though I'm unable to monitor her mental state right now, I'd also assume that only the SOS Brigade members retain their original memories. That explains a bit of your situation, mine, and Kenji's. Since you weren't able to talk to Kenji for a sustained amount of time, I'm not entirely sure about the memory situation, but all we need to do is find someone else to deduce the truth."

I hate to break it to you, but I'm more worried about finding the rest of the Brigade and Hisao before figuring out this stuff.

"Well I would like to prioritize that as well, but it seems that we can't travel between worlds as we please. And if my theory is correct, we'd likely have to search countless worlds for them. If we can't figure out the mechanisms behind our situation, we probably won't even be able to save ourselves."

Koizumi stretched out his hand, and a fireball appeared, just like before. "Though if we do require some fast traveling in this world, I do have access to 100% of my powers. But we'll have to keep it quiet. I would like to refrain from spooking out the rest of the PSS." The fireball dissipated.

I groaned. This is so stupid. I'm starting to feel vibes from that time we were trapped in that mansion during that skiing trip last Christmas. Well, I guess for now let's take a breather. I've had enough action for a while.


	10. Chapter 85

**Chapter 8.5: The First Clue**

So a while after, inside the trailer, I finally got the suit back. Right now, I was sitting with Koizumi and Stella near the back of the trailer, while the other PSS members were looking intently at a computer screen. It looks like they scanned the suit with something to analyze it, but judging by the looks on their faces, I'd assume that they made no headway.

"Aw man…this doesn't look like a design that's easy to replicate. I'm not even sure if modern science explains why that suit works." Alexei frowned, scratching his head frantically.

"We have to try at least." Xiaomin got closer to the screen. "This might be something that'll guarantee us victory."

"…" Stella simply stared at Koizumi. I have to wonder, do those two have something going in this world? Rather, do Rothcol and Stella have something going? If this were Koizumi and Koizumi alone…I shudder to think about it.

"You seem rather bored." Koizumi extended his arm towards me. "Take this. It's a datapad that I found a while ago, but it seems its ID locked. Maybe you could unlock it for us?"

…What kind of harassment is this, Koizumi? As if I could figure this out. To begin with, I don't even know what an ID lock is, let alone how to solve it. My acquired knowledge only goes as far as the suit.

Sigh…

I took the datapad or whatever it was from Koizumi. It was like something out of science fiction. Approximately the same size as a small laptop, it had a holographic screen projected by a series of…what were they called…EMR emitters? It also seemed to be a touch screen. Yeah, like something out of a show about extra-terrestrial life forms…or aliens, since that'd be the more accurate associated subject.

"Place you hand on the scanner to unlock this device." A female voice. Probably the datapad's artificial intelligence. That's how those shows go anyway.

I placed my hand on the datapad's screen. To my surprise, instead of a voice saying "Access Denied" like I had expected the datapad glowed brighter momentarily.

"Access granted. Beginning playback."

Now this is something. There was a movie or video on the datapad.

"Hey, Koizu…Rothcol. Come with me."

"Oh? Did you get it working?" Koizumi peered over curiously.

…Just get your rear in gear and come with me.

I grabbed Koizumi by the arm and dragged him out of the trailer.

.…

"So…you got it working?" Koizumi held the datapad now.

You couldn't get it to work?

"I'm afraid not. I found it near a rock when I first regained consciousness in this world. The best I could manage was an 'access denied' message." Koizumi sighed, smiling thinly at me. "Maybe there's something special about you."

Don't patronize me, you pretentious freak.

"Well regardless, let's see what this has. Maybe a clue to help us understand our predicament."

I sat down with Koizumi on the ground. The datapad began to play.

…

"_Argh!" _

_One more slash. The witch's familiar was instantly bisected, vanquished from the world. Heh…it's sort of strange…I thought this would give me so much satisfaction…but I just feel terrible. I'm still angry…still sad…I don't know what to think or feel anymore. _

_I gasped for breath and fell on my knees. I need to get out of this apartment area…_

_I think I might've overexerted myself here…but even if I stop this, what is there left for me? Kyousuke…he's with Hitomi now…And Madoka…I said such horrible things to her…and she's my best friend…I let that happen. I'm just a zombie now…not worth of being a hero anymore, I couldn't look Mami in the eye if she was still here. I'll just…keep going like this. Kill witches…until I can't anymore. I'll have finished my duty when I'm dead, right? _

_I heard footsteps behind me. I felt anger and resentment boil inside me when I saw who it was. That transfer student again…what the hell does she want?_

"_Haven't you realized? We don't have the luxury of doing whatever we want. You should be hunting witches only." _

_Homura Akemi…_

_I stood back up. "Heh…well I'm a different kind of magical girl. Familiars can still kill people. I'm not going to stand around and wait until that happens."_

"_Stop being so naïve. Your Soul Gem is at its limit. You need to purify it now. Use this."_

_A grief seed was tossed at my feet. I didn't even look at it. I sent it flying away with the heel of my shoe. _

_Clatter…clatter…_

"_Why don't you trust me? Can't you see I'm just trying to help you?" _

_She really pisses me off…_

_"Why don't I trust you? Well…let's call it my intuition. I can tell that you're lying to me. You look like someone who's given up on everything. You say you want to help me, but you're really after something else. You're not fooling anyone." I fell back down on my knees. It really feels like I'm losing my ability to stand my ground…_

_She gritted her teeth. "Can't you see that you're making Madoka suffer?"_

_This actually caught me off guard. What she talking about? _

"_Madoka? She has nothing to do with this." _

_Looks like I struck a nerve. She looked pretty angry. _

"_It has __**everything**__ to do with her!" Her shield and uniform appeared on her body. She transformed…what is she thinking?_

"_You're sharp, Sayaka Miki. You're absolutely right. I don't give a damn about you. I just don't Madoka to suffer because of your fall." She knelt down in front of me, her Soul Gem glowed a bright hot purple. _

_I recoiled slightly. She couldn't mean…? _

"_That's why if you cause her anymore suffering…I'll kill you with my own hands!" A handgun appeared in her hand. It was aimed right between my eyes. _

_I froze up, and I was looking right into the gun's barrel. I felt scared. I've fought against pretty dangerous opponents before…but never against someone who has made me feel such dread. Am I really going to die here? _

_A chain pole appeared in front of me. It grabbed that Homura girl. She fell backwards, and was pinned to the ground. _

"_Hey, hurry up and run!" The voice belonged to Kyoko Sakura…so did the chain pole pinning Homura against the ground._

_I see…she's saving me huh? I'm not safe here. I need to go. Now. _

_I slowly got up from the ground. I couldn't run even if I wanted to. I felt way too tired. But I picked up the pace. That Homura girl looked pretty serious when she threatened me. I don't think I want to stick around to find out just how serious she was. _

"_And what are we up to?" Someone entered my field of vision. It was a guy in a dark hooded cloak…I don't think I've ever seen him before. He had silver hair and a head band obscuring his left eye…and in his right hand was the grief seed I kicked away just a minute ago. _

"_Who are you?" I backed away. I felt trapped now. This stranger on one side, psycho-transfer student on the other…_

"_A true ally of justice." He smirked knowingly. "That is what I am, and what you once wanted to be. Isn't that right, Sayaka Miki?" _

_What the hell? How does he know who I am? This night…is just crazy. _

"_You don't know me." I said grudgingly. I might not know who he is…but I might as well pulverize him and ask questions while the pulverizing is happening. "Don't act like you do." _

"_We're cut from the same cloth, you and I." He stepped closer to me. I backed up a few steps. "Like you, I believe that witches must be annihilated, erased from the face of this Earth. But there's a small catch to all of it that you aren't even aware of." _

…_Just who is this guy?_

"_How do you know about witches? Ordinary people can't see them." Homura asked that in my stead. I don't like her at all, and I certainly don't trust her either. But I trust this stranger even less than her. _

_The stranger started flipping the grief seed like a coin, still smirking smugly. "If I were any ordinary person, do you think I would be talking to you? I came all this way just to give you some information. Take a close look at your Soul Gem, Sayaka Miki." _

_Instinctively, I materialized my Soul Gem in my hand and placed it in plain view. It was a deep dirtied blue colour. "Yeah? So what?" _

_The stranger grabbed the grief seed out of the air and waved it in my face. "Ever wonder how __**these**__ are created? It doesn`t have to be a witch's familiar that spawns them. You already know one truth: the Soul Gems contain your soul and the moment it parts from your presence you are as good as dead. But the other truth is that a Soul Gem…when too tainted, will shatter and become a grief seed."_

_Those words hit me with the force of a hurricane. It took me a few seconds to register what he just said. I don't believe it. I'm shocked. Utterly shocked. There's no way that can be true…that means all the witches we've fought up until now…_

"_What?!" Kyoko looked just as shocked and startled as me. _

"_You're lying!" I screamed. "There's no way that's true!" _

"_Lying?" The stranger was standing right in front of me now. "Homura Akemi…tell me, is what I say true?" _

_Homura, still bound by Kyoko's chain pole, nodded sullenly. "It is as he says. That is the final truth of the Soul Gems. The fate of all magical girls…is to become a witch." _

_I don't know what to say. All this time…I've been killing witches who were actually once magical girls like me? To think…that…no…that can't be! _

"_No…It's a lie…It has to be a lie!" I merged with my Soul Gem and transformed. I summoned a sword and held its point at the stranger's throat. "There's no way!" _

_Kyoko pulled away her pole chain and transformed it back into a spear, aiming it at Homura's face. "Don't you two start messing with us!" _

"_That's the truth that Kyubey will never tell you until it is past late. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." The stranger didn't flinch or even bat an eyelash._

"_How do you know all of this anyway?" Kyoko eyed the stranger. "Kyubey only appears to girls, and this stuff about witches being magical girls…how can you prove that?!"_

"_Sayaka Miki…your Soul Gem has become too tainted. If Kyoko Sakura wants proof, you can just let that Soul Gem turn black." The strange sighed. "But as you are now, you are no longer fit to be a magical girl." _

_I pulled back the sword. "What are you trying to say?" _

"_I'm saying…" He removed his headband, revealing an eye with a red iris, emitting an eerie red glow. "That I will be relieving you of duty. One of my abilities is to restore a person's soul from their Soul Gem, returning them to a regular person." _

_I faltered. "No way…is that true?" That means…he can turn me back into the way I was before? _

"_It is the truth. I will undo your wish…and return you to normal." _

_Undo my wish…? That means I'd be normal again, but Kyousuke…_

"_No…" I raised my sword again. "I don't need you to undo anything. I'm fine as I am." _

_The stranger glared at me. "You're far from fine, Sayaka Miki. But not beyond help. By doing this now, I will spare you an eternity of suffering." _

"_I don't need your help." I readied myself. I have to fight him off. _

"_Sayaka, I'll help you!" Kyoko jumped towards the stranger, but a wall of blue energy erupted from the ground, sending her flying back. "What?" She smashed at the wall with her spear, but nothing happened._

_Homura got off the ground and shot at the wall a few times with her gun to no avail. Guess that's better for me. I'll be able to beat the daylights out of him on my own. _

"_You know…I'd really prefer to avoid this, but I can take your Soul Gem by force." The stranger unsheathed a katana. It looked pretty ordinary…but it's probably dangerous. _

"_Save your breath." I muttered. I felt ready now. I'll just do what I always do. He can't do anything to me._

_I dashed at him, swinging my sword furiously and rapidly. His body fell to tatters. I smiled. He was nothing compared to me. He was just all talk._

"_That was very stupid, Sayaka Miki." The stranger's severed head continued to talk. Suddenly, the head, along with the rest of the body disintegrated. "You're such a fool." The stranger, intact and unhurt, stood directly behind me now. _

_He slashed towards me four times in rapid succession. I didn't even have a chance to get out of the way. I felt a slight pain in both my arms and legs. I jumped back. _

"_Heh…you're persistent." This is nothing…once my arms heal I'll make sure you're dead…_

_I couldn't raise my arms. I panicked. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't even make my arms move forward or backwards. _

"_What did you…?!" My heart skipped a beat._

"_Hah." The stranger sheathed his sword. "You're reckless, you know? Your combat style is sloppy. You are relying solely on how fast you heal. Take that away, and what are you?" _

"_Damn you!" I tried to charge forward again, but my legs gave way and I slammed face first into the ground. That hurt…_

"_Sayaka!" Kyoko smashed away at the energy wall over and over again. It wasn't doing anything._

"_That's a perk of a demonic weapon like mine." The stranger placed his headband back on. "You don't heal that easily from it." _

_I clenched my teeth together and then my hands into fists. "Stay away from me!" _

"_That's not for you to decide now." My uniform faded away from my body and my sword disappeared as well. I could see my Soul Gem in front of my face…and the stranger picked it up. _

"_No! Stop! Don't!" I started crying. I don't want Kyousuke's hand…to not be able to move again!_

_The stranger fumbled through his pocket for a moment, and took out the grief seed from earlier. He placed it against my Soul Gem, and a moment later, all the dark matter in my Soul Gem had vanished. _

_"Well, to turn you back would hurt your feelings more." The stranger placed the Soul Gem in my hand. That's when I noticed I could move my arms and legs again. _

"_You're not a zombie. No zombie could feel the emotions you do. No zombie could care for someone else. No zombie could love someone the way that you do. You would've made a fine couple with Kyousuke Kamijo." He helped me up to my feet. What's with this sudden change in personality? And how does he know Kyousuke? _

"_Maybe you're not the kind of person who is most suitable for being a magical girl…but I definitely understand where you're coming from. You should keep on protecting your friends and the ones you love. You can't do that if your Soul Gem is tainted." _

"…_Why…? Why are you doing this?" I didn't know whether to be grateful or upset. _

_The blue energy wall faded. Both Kyoko and Homura were frozen on the spot. I don't know what was going through their heads at the moment. _

"_I don't want to see someone like you end up on the wrong path. Being alone sucks, I get it. But what's worse is neglecting your friends and ending up not being able to protect them. I think you owe Madoka Kaname an apology when you see her again." _

_Madoka…? Her again? She's really popular with these nut jobs… _

"_If you become a witch…how do you think Madoka would feel? You are her best friend." The stranger backed away from me a few steps and looked me in the eye. "Don't ever think your life belongs to just you." _

_I was at a loss for words again. He was right. I had hurt Madoka so badly…I was so caught up with my own problems I didn't realize how much that was hurting her feelings. I'm…such an idiot…Mami...she'd be so disappointed in me…_

"_Huh?" It was Mami's voice. "What are you all doing here? I thought I was going to take down the familiar." _

_This was definitely impossible. It had to be a trick. She died. I saw it with my own eyes! But right now, Mami was standing right behind the stranger. She looked bewildered. "And who is this person?" _

"_Mami?" Kyoko was taken back like me. "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be…" She trailed off. _

"_Supposed to be what?" Mami scowled at us. "Didn't we agree that if another familiar showed up, I'd take care of it?" _

_I didn't know why but…I suddenly felt so happy and relieved. Mami…she's still alive! I don't know how, but she's really here! I ran over to her and embraced her, tears flowing out of my eyes. "Mami…! You're okay…!" This wasn't a fake…this was real. _

"_Huh…?" I couldn't see the look on her face, but I guess Mami was pretty confused. "What are you talking about? I was always okay. You all look like you just saw a ghost or something." _

"_We...more or less did." Homura was probably surprised, but she didn't show it at all. _

_Mami chuckled, and hugged me back. "Well, I would've been one if it wasn't for you, Homura. I still owe you for that." _

"_What?" I looked up. Wait, seriously. What?_

"_Huh? Sayaka, Homura saved me when we fought that doll-like witch a while ago. You were watching the entire time." _

_Uh…no…wait…that contradicts what I remember…that witch bit off…your…_

"_Allow me to explain." The stranger cleared his throat. "Homura Akemi, you are aware of timelines, am I right? Currently, two of those timelines are merged, which allowed this to happen. If you want a detailed explanation, I will do that for you later." _

"…" _Homura glared at the stranger warily. "Are you the same as me?" _

"_Similar, but not the exact same." The stranger nodded._

_I don't know what they're talking about…though I suppose I shouldn't be bothered to care about that either. _

"_Either way…" Kyoko glanced at Mami with a strange face. "Let's all just go home now. We'll meet up here tomorrow and talk." Kyoko stared down the stranger. "You especially have a lot to answer for." _

"_Agreed." Mami let go of me, looking at me like a mother scolding a child. "I still want to know why you three still came out here." _

_This is too surreal… _

"_Hmph." Homura had a cold expression on her face as she stepped towards the strange. "You better have answers. Even if we don't know you, rest assured that I'll have no problems hunting you down if you're ever a threat." Homura flicked her hair to the side. In the next moment she was gone. Disappearing like she always is, huh? _

_Kyoko vaulted over the railing and fell out of my line of sight._

"_Sayaka Miki, I need to speak to you in private." The stranger placed his hand on my shoulder. _

_I turned around and swatted his hand off me. It was reflex. I didn't mean to act that startled. _

"_Sorry…" I scratched the back of my head, laughing nervously. "You scared me."_

"_Sayaka, I'm going on ahead. I'll wait for you downstairs." Mami turned and walked away._

"_Wai-" I tried to protest. A bit too late. Mami was already halfway down the hallway. "Well, what do you want? And also…sorry for trying to cut you up earlier. I guess I still need to calm down a bit."_

"_No worries." The stranger nodded. "First and foremost, I want you to understand that magical girls are the embodiment of hope. If you are to keep fighting evil, you must never lose hope again. Secondly, I think you should know that Kyousuke Kamijo would've accepted your feelings had you told him."_

"_How do you know that?" I felt a little angry. "There's no way you can say that."_

"_Actually I can, since I come from a different timeline." The stranger laughed. _

"_What?" Timeline? What's that supposed to mean? _

"_In other words, I came from an alternate reality. You may not believe me, but in that reality, you were Kyousuke Kamijo's girlfriend. He confessed his love to you shortly after you wished to have his hand healed." _

"_There's…no way. I'll believe the stuff you said about magical girls becoming witches…but not this."  
><em>

_Kyousuke…did he really have feelings for me? Then why did he go out with Hitomi? _

"_Like I said, you don't need to believe me. I'm just saying that for the record. Lastly, regarding Homura Akemi…don't tell anyone that I told you this. She's from the future. A time traveler for simplicity's sake, she's been trying to save a friend from the fate of magical girls. That's why she is trying so hard to prevent Madoka from forming a contract with Kyubey." _

_Wait…she said she didn't want to see Madoka suffer…does that mean…? "Hey, stranger. Does that mean that she's met Madoka before she transferred?" _

"_Yes. And Homura Akemi has seen Madoka Kaname die or transform into a witch countless times. She made a promise to save Madoka no matter what. Her methods are heavy-handed, but her intentions are understandable." The stranger turned his back to me. "Like I said, don't tell anyone I told you this. I just want you to know that so you can trust her more. She's not a bad person." _

_I've just heard a lot of things that I found hard to believe tonight. So Madoka was a magical girl before? …I guess I'll take your word for this one. That actually explains a lot about Homura, especially why she's so fixated on Madoka. The time traveling part is a bit hard to swallow though. I guess her wish had to do with that then._

"_I'll speak to you and Mami Tomoe at a later time. There is something that we must discuss. Concerning a powerful witch called Walpurgisnacht and a personal favour that I have to ask." _

"_O…kay…" I nodded slowly. "See you around, I guess…?" _

"_Take care. By the way, my name is Nara. Nara Hishikawa." He grinned back at me. "Keep that Soul Gem clear, and don't forget about the ones you love." _

"_Right…" I nodded slowly._

_In the next moment, two black feathered wings enveloped Nara. Shortly after, the wings started to melt away, and when the feathers disappeared, Nara was no longer there. _

_I sighed deeply. I felt so relieved. I think getting cheered up was what I needed. All of a sudden, I feel better. Not great like before…but it doesn't feel like the world's going to end now. Besides…Mami's back! I can't wait to tell Madoka. _

…_.._

"_You took a long time." Mami was waiting for me in the courtyard with her arms crossed._

"_Sorry, sorry! He had something he wanted to talk about."_

"_Well, let's head back. You need to take a rest, like we agreed. After that, you need to tell me who that was." Mami grabbed my hand. Her hand was so warm. I felt…calm now. _

"_Yeah…let's do that." I closed my eyes. I'm crying again…but at least this time it's because of how happy I am. _

….

…Hey Koizumi. Did you catch all of that?

"Yeah, I sure did…" Koizumi frowned at the datapad, scratching his head. "Looks like that was another reality."

"I haven't come across a device that lets me observe other worlds."

"Well here's something to think about." Koizumi shrugged, smiling calmly. "The datapad played a video with a definite end, rather than a live video feed. This suggests that this event occurred in the past."

Okay…so…?

"So, there is a possibility that Nara is the perpetrator…he did mention both a demonic weapon and time traveling, amongst other powers that we observed. What if he has powers similar to Miss Suzumiya, with the difference being that he is aware of his power?"

What are you saying? That he is another God?

"It is only a hypothesis at this point. I have no way of knowing if this datapad is real or merely a fabrication made by someone to distract us. It seemed far too…convenient of a setup. Regardless, we should be more cautious around Nara."

What do you mean too convenient?

"I mean…" Koizumi rewound the video a bit and replayed a sequence. "This part here. As soon as the other girl showed up, it seemed like everyone believed him. That seems almost too good to be true."

"Maybe you're over thinking this." I replayed that scene for myself. "If I saw someone close to me die and come back to life a while later, I probably wouldn't be thinking about anything like that."

"Nonetheless…I don't think we should mull over this for too long. We have other matters to contend with."

You got that right. But how are we going to get out of this world anyway? Isn't that the bigger concern?

"Indeed…I suppose this will be a long day, huh?" Koizumi chuckled, still smiling and looking calm. I'm going to call a bluff on that.

Well, I won't disagree. We need to do something. But figuring out what to do is going to take time. And I'm not entirely sure if we even have time to spare right now.

**To be continued…**


	11. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: A Desperate Gamble (Nara Hishikawa)**

**REALITY PROJECTION SYSTEM ACTIVATED**

**SYSTEM REINITIALIZING…**

**LOADING INTERFACES…**

…

…

…

**DATA LOSS DETECTED…ANALYZING…**

**REBOOTING INTERFACE…**

**WELCOME, NARA HISIKAWA…**

"Ugh…"

It seems I have been passed out for a few hours…and it seems the Reality Projection System is finally back online. My body feels so heavy though, so I could tell something was quite wrong.

First I had to ascertain my situation, after dusting off this very nice suit I had decided to wear. It smells rather terrible where I currently am…exactly like how assortments of garbage smell in a landfill. It is also rather cold for a day in the summer, and the absence of people is rather alarming. I was sure that I was about to go prepare for another experiment…

"_Nara Hisikawa. You appeared to have regained consciousness. Do you require a map_?" A very familiar female voice spoke to me, and the voice seemed to be in my own head.

"No." I sneered.

That would be my assistant, artificial intelligence L.E, pronounced Ellie, short for Logical Executor. Her purpose is to assist me with almost all of my tasks. Though that's probably just her programming, her remark was quite sarcastic.

"Ellie, give me a full analysis of the situation."

My surroundings are familiar but something was off. Before I was going to rest, I was in a foreign town acting as an MC for a gaming event.

In truth, the entire event was another experiment designed by me so I could witness the interactions between strangers. All of the subjects I gathered up for the experiment were good people in their own rights, so I was curious to see how they'd get along. What makes this experiment different from a typical gathering of random people was that they were all from different realities, though the subjects aren't aware of this. In fact, the way the experiment was devised allowed for seamless mixing of several realities. This is all made possible by the Reality Projection System.

To be honest, even I do not understand how the Reality Projection System came to be. I found it the thing beside a dumpster, but there is no doubt that even the most advanced human technology could not create such a device. In its physical form, it seems like a futuristic capsule similar to the kind that people would be put into cryo-stasis in. The words "Reality Projection System" are engraved on the front. Instead of freezing people however, it connects the mind of the user to "null space". Null space isn't just a simple void though. It is a place where the user can access the infinite realities that exist in the universe. Entering a reality forces the user to leave null space, but a direct connection is always forged between the reality and null space, allowing the user to return to their original reality at a moment's notice. The access is not limited by time or space, allowing the user to move freely and do as they please. However, almost as if the inventor was aware of potential abuse, it seems that any attempts at creating a drastic change in one reality will cause it to branch off and become a separate reality that terminates when the user leaves. Thus it'd be accurate to say that the system allows the user to view a reality and alter a copy of it.

There are some exceptions of course, similar to what I am doing now.

The Reality Projection System allows a function called "Overlaying", a process that allows elements of various realities to be combined, creating temporary unique reality. This can be a person, a building, an item, a planet, perhaps even a galaxy. Since such a thing may cause unforeseen problems, I do not wish to do stress testing on that; I do value my life. On a small scale though, I can bring in people and locations from different realities. I would then drop the people into the locations and either observe or be an active participant. The people that I bring over are not copies. Unlike when meddling with a certain reality, anything I bring into an Overlaying is the genuine article. They do not disappear from their own reality, as time is frozen at the point in which I called them. Once the Overlaying is done they will return to the point at which they were summoned. Similarly if they are killed or die somehow during an Overlaying they disappear back into their own realities. Thus, there is hypothetically no danger in using an Overlaying as a personal playground. It is also where I conduct my experiments on people, ranging from social interactions, personality tests, combat tests, to simply having a good time with subjects. Finally, Overlaying only ends when the user terminates it or if (it's a one in a million chance by the way) the user is somehow killed.

Using the Reality Projection System also gives the user distinct advantages, like having cheat codes enabled in a game. You can manipulate data to summon someone or something into a reality for you to use. Speaking strictly for the user though, you can store several "combat modules" in the system. Combat modules are near perfect imitations of an individual's equipment, physique, and fighting knowledge. I have absolutely no combat capabilities as a normal person. Even if you are unskilled in fighting, a combat module would be able to compensate by providing the knowledge of the individual that the module is based on. Of course, such a thing cannot be done without a method of analysis. The Reality Projection System also allows the user to completely record equipment, combat style, and mental state for any combatant. Knowledge, experience, and equipment analyzed by the system can be stored into modules, able to be recalled at a moment's notice. You can also take the best characteristics from certain modules and create a new one. There are limits though, as even if the system can recall Excalibur or Gae Bolg, I am not the proper wielder of the weapons and cannot use their unique abilities at full power. To access all stored modules the user must be in null space. When entering a reality, only six modules are available.

Alongside the analysis and storage purposes, the system also gives the user passive abilities, such as superhuman agility, stamina, strength, reflex, and resistance to pain and injury. As I said before, it is like having a textbook's worth of cheat codes and being able to throw them at any game.

However, my present predicament is very, very troubling.

Rather than being in Yagami, the city I used for Overlaying that I created, I'm now in some random dark alleyway in some North American city. At least the designs looked North American. That is the first problem. The second problem I realized immediately when my body felt heavy. All of my passive abilities have been deactivated, and I have access to only two of my six combat modules. The third and biggest problem is that my active connection to null space is present, but I am unable to return to null space at will.

"_Analysis complete. Beginning playback."_ As if on cue, virtual screens appeared in front of me to assist Ellie in giving me a run down. "_The Overlaying has malfunctioned greatly, and as a result the realities involved have change. All original subjects are accounted for, but some are dead from various elements in the realities that have now appeared."_

I sighed in exasperation. I know they get returned to their reality once they die, but I still dislike it when their deaths are not at my hand.

"Enough about the subjects. What have you learned about the situation?"

"_Currently the Overlaying is connecting seven other realities to this one, rather than functioning normally. These realities are incomplete and limited. The one you are in is the only reality connect to null space."_

"Hold on…" I paused to think. If this reality is the only one connected to null space…

"_If I am guessing your thoughts right, then yes, your subjects that have died and not returned to their realities yet. They will remain dead until you return to null space and disengage the Overlaying."_ Ellie's usual cheerful voice greatly contradicts the morbid news.

In other words, until I dropped the Overlaying everyone I gathered will be trapped. Hardly the worst situation they could be in, but the same cannot be said for me.

"In that case, I am the one who is trapped." Basically I can't even fall back to null space. The subjects only need to wait for me to deactivate the Overlaying or to die. I read over one of the screens, but all it seemed to say was that I only had two combat modules available. Unfortunately for me, they were also the ones that were the weakest. "Care to explain what's going on with the combat modules?"

"_Due to the weakened connection to null space, your combat module capacity was correspondingly reduced. Also, passive abilities are disabled for the same reason._"

That's a load of bull. How am I supposed to defend myself without my best weapons? Then again, I might not be in immediate danger.

"Alright…where are we right now? What is the date?"

"_Racoon City in the United States of America. Date: September 24, 1998, 8:24 PM Pacific Standard Time."_

…Oh shit…if I remember correctly…

"_Nara Hishikawa, I do believe you are in the middle of the T-Virus outbreak. Do you require an evacuation route?"_ Ellie pulled one specific virtual screen towards me and expanded the size so I could get all the details.

Long story short, I'm stuck in a zombie apocalypse. The T-Virus turns people into zombies would be the abridged explanation. Unfortunately, without my passive abilities, I'm as good as human.

"No. We need to find the null space passage. Can you detect it right now?" I glanced around. I should actually get out of here. Getting trapped here would be a death sentence.

"_Null space signature detected. Marking location on your AR display."_

Immediately, waypoint markers and distance estimation appeared in front of me. I should thank the heavens that augmented reality still works here. However….

"The passage is underground?"

"_Yes. From my schematics retained from our last visit here, it should be in the Umbrella Corporation's laboratory evacuation train." _

…I hate my life. This is truly a terrible situation to be in. I guess I'll ignore retrieving the subjects. It doesn't matter if they die as long as I can get to that passage. But doing so alone…is nearly impossible.

"Ellie, is there anyone available to immediately assist us?"

"_Scanning…There are three individuals that I can establish a connection with: 7__th__ Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Aigis, Lancer Class Servant Cu Chulainn, and Survey Corps Captain Levi."_

Hmm. Not ideal either.

Aigis is an android, a living weapon, given a heart to use a special power called a Persona. But she is inexperienced in dealing with zombies and mutant bio-organic weapons.

Lancer is a Heroic Spirit whose true identity is Cu Chulainn. His battle skills are formidable, but I haven't experimented with the effects of the T-Virus on Heroic Spirits.

Levi is a solider from the Survey Corps in a separate apocalypse. To protect humanity, he fights man-eating giants called Titans, and is known as humanity's strongest soldier. However there are two problems with him. One, he is still human, and two he probably hates my guts since I blackmailed him into participating in my experiments. 

This will be a gamble, since no matter who I call to assist me there'll be some sort of disadvantage. But I guess Aigis would be the best choice, since zombies won't actually attack her. Even if they did, they'd need a Godsend to bite through Aigis's armour. At the same time, if we encounter other bio-organic mutants like giant crocodiles or the near indestructible Tyrants, she might be destroyed.

Hold on…

"Ellie, is Midori still on standby?"

Midori is my number one assistant aside from Ellie. The way we met was strange, as she somehow followed me into null space. After performing that technically impossible feat she also appeared in my own reality, suffering from amnesia. She's about my height, has a fairly slim frame, and a really cute looking face. I had no recollection of what reality she was from, but I decided to take her in and named her Midori after her hair colour. I was only one in my house after my parents died. Plus, cooking and cleaning was fairly simple for two people. She was really shy and reserved at first, so it was sort of fun. But despite her amnesia she was so adept in using swords and hand-to-hand combat that I was scared into never pissing her off outside of the Reality Projection System.

Since she's from my world, I could summon her at any time and she'd retain all memories of what happened after I left the Reality Projection System. She also has a separate combat module I made in the System that is independent of my modules, meaning that if I summoned her she'd be at full strength. Midori fights using a katana infused with the power of the wind. I forgot who I copied this legendary wind technique from, but it allowed the blade of the wind to cut alongside the blade of the katana, attacking at impossible speed and distances. The user could also bend the wind around them, creating an impenetrable shield. If Midori were here, then I'd not have a single worry in the world.

"_Your girlfriend's on standby indeed, but I cannot establish a connection to her. Did you two have a fight?"_

"She is **not** my girlfriend, Ellie. And no we did not have a fight."

Well, back to our choice of Aigis I guess.

"Alright it seems beggars can't be choosers. Open connection to Aigis."

I focused my mind.

"_Aigis! Aigis! Can you hear me?"_

Telepathy should work fine as long as Ellie maintains a link. I hope…

"_Hishikawa-san?"_ Aigis's surprised voice responded. Thank God, we managed to get through to her.

"_I need your help. I'm in a bit of a tight spot. You're not on a mission with Mitsuru or anything right?"_

"_No. I am currently at headquarters on standby."_ Aigis's tone implied that I had said something suspicious. _"Do not tell me that you wish to go peeping at a hot spring again."_

I was so caught off guard by her suggestion that I had to yell something back. _"No you dummy! I'm being serious here, I need your assistance. Combat-wise." _

"_You require me to help you in a fight? Have you been stealing females away from their male partners then? I recall that you had the same bad habit as Ryoji-san."_ I could tell that she was trying to make a joke…but this honestly isn't the time for jokes!

"_No-! I'm under life threatening danger here! Please help me out and stop with the bad jokes!"_

I could imagine Aigis tilting her head in confusion. _"My jokes are not funny? It appears that I still have much to learn about humour. I understand. Will you be using the usual method?"_

"_Yes. Standby for transportation."_

I loosened my headband to reveal my other eye. My left eye glows red. This eye was an augmentation I made. It stores two functions: to send things back to their own reality or to bring something to my current reality. In this case, I needed to use the second function.

"Data Manipulation…Type II…" I concentrated my vision at the space in front of me.

A massive distortion appeared creating a vortex. A large green orb came out of the vortex. The vortex then closed and the orb's light faded, leaving Aigis in its place. Haha, it's been I while since I've seen that striking blond hair and those determined azure eyes of hers. Sort of refreshing actually.

"Hishikawa-san, you do not appear to be in danger." Aigis examined me from head to toe to check for injuries. "What is so life threatening that you would require my assistance?"

Just then, I heard moaning coming from the alleyway's far side where the exit is.

"Yeah…that would be it." It seems my actions have drawn a lot of attention.

More moaning, followed by a horrendous stench, like decaying meat. Slowly but surely, zombies stumbled into the alleyway, attracted by the noise made from yelling at and summoning Aigis.

"What manner of creatures are these? They appear like humans but definitely are neither human nor shadows." Aigis readied her weapons. A Gating gun emerges from her right arm and the finger tips on her left hand recede, leaving five deadly gun barrels in their place.

"These are called zombies. Creatures that seek to eat living things." I stood slightly behind Aigis. "As I am now I stand no chance against these things."

"I cannot comprehend your condition right now. However, these enemies match with the information about zombies from my database. I understand why you called me to help you. Such creatures do not attack me, correct?" Aigis takes aim at the approaching horde of zombies. I can't even count how many there are coming at us.

"You're exactly right." Aigis does catch on quickly about these things. If only her sense of humour could improve as quickly…

I tried to activate my weakest combat module. It's a module that lets me summon a weapon. Most of the effectiveness came from my passive abilities in combination with the weapon. It is my weakest and second most used module, as there are many times where I want to appear human. I should at least back Aigis up on this.

I visualized the weapon that I wanted: Yamato, the demonic sword that is as familiar to me as my own hand. A katana capable of cutting through space and time, and as a demonic weapon renders most healing useless to it for an extended period of time.

…What? I…can't remember what it looks like? I tried to focus harder. I've summoned this weapon over a thousand times. How can I not remember what it looks like? But no matter how hard I tried, the shape of the weapon does not appear in my mind, as if the memory of the weapon was closed off to me.

"Hishikawa-san, do you not have a weapon to use?" Aigis asked, concerned after seeing my strained expression.

"No…for some reason I can't summon my weapon like I always do…" I grimaced and kept trying to search for the appearance of Yamato in my mind. Then I noticed something else. I couldn't recall the appearance of any of my most used weapons. The only things that came to mind are generic blades and guns, hardly capable of dealing with this situation.

"Then allow me to deal with these enemies. I will buy you time." With that remark, Aigis was ready to open fire on the zombies.

"Aim for their heads Aigis!" I yelled.

"Understood. Orgia Mode active!" The headphone like appendages on Aigis's head whirled up and started spinning rapidly, indicating that she had entered her combat mode.

I kept my vision focused on my hand. I scrambled through my memories. I had to get a weapon quickly…Aigis can't keep this up forever. Dear God…I really don't want to die…

…

**To be continued…**


	12. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 α: Disconnect (Nara Hishikawa)**

Gunshots have been constantly ringing in the background for about half a minute now. But…my hands were still empty. Yamato would not appear in my mind and neither did any of my other trusted weapons.

"Hishikawa-san!" Aigis seemed more than a bit anxious now. "I am running dangerously low on ammunition!"

"Damn it!" I shouted in frustration. I had to think quickly. If a weapon cannot be procured…an escape route is necessary. But where can we run? We're totally sandwiched between the alley's dead end and a horde of zombies. Unless… "Ellie! Calculate an escape route for us!"

I took a quick look around the alley. The brick walls are fairly unstable. They can be easily destabilized with rockets. And as Aigis held back the advancing undead, I noticed a man hole in the center of their path, wide enough for about one person at a time, and with the stumbling walking rate of the creatures they'd all be able to fall in. If the cover of the manhole is destroyed, it could work.

"Aigis, use your rockets to destroy the sides of the alleyway around that manhole cover. While you're at it, destroy the manhole cover too."

"Understood!" Aigis switched her weaponry. A set of rocket launchers extended out from her shoulders. She wasted no time in firing all eight rockets in rapid succession, creating a massive explosion. I ducked away to shield myself from the heat and blinding light. When I turned back, the alleyway's walls had completely crumbed and turned to chunks of bricks, obstructing the alleyway's path. And as expected, the zombies that were not caught in the explosion were now walking slowly into the now expanded manhole. An unrelenting torrent of splashes followed.

I exhaled, quite relieved. It appears I'm still safe

"Cooling off." Aigis deactivated her combat mode, her rocket launchers and machine guns retracting back into her body. "That was a brilliant idea, stopping their advance with such a method."

"…I'm glad I even thought of that. I was really scared." I sighed, letting myself fall down on my rear. "I've never been unable to call forth my weapon before."

Aigis sat down beside me. "Has something happened since we've last met?"

…Haha, that's another thing worth explaining. When I go to another reality, I create another timeline when interacting only when significant change happens. This change could be that someone who was supposed to die did not die. When I visited Aigis's reality, I joined her group of friends to fight against a deity known as Nyx, who was destined to bring about the end of humanity. To explain all of my endeavours there would be a story for another time, but in short joining them allowed me to become good friends with the entire group. And since there was not a significant change in their history, they retained their memories of me. To make things easier though, I repressed their memories with the System, and only when I contacted them did their memories of me seamlessly return. They would never be aware that the memories are being repressed, and once they get the memories back they wouldn't have realized that it had been gone for a while. Oh, and the mannerisms of the people I summon don't change from where they come from. I'm a bit more used to Miss or Mister being used in the place of Japanese honorifics, but I guess it doesn't matter too much.

"Yeah…Something's wrong with me I think. I don't feel any of the power that I had when we fought Nyx together…" I laughed nervously. "Speaking of which, how has everyone else been doing?"

"Very good it would seem. Mitsuru-san is still with her company, and Junpei-kun and Yukari-san have found jobs."

"Junpei?" I raised an eyebrow. "He actually got a job? Am I hearing this right?"

"Indeed. He is coaching little league baseball." Aigis smiled softly. "Everyone has gone through a lot…It's good to see Junpei enjoying his life."

"…I wish I could say the same of Minato…" I give an exaggerated sigh. It wasn't that I really missed the guy or anything…Okay maybe I do a bit. He was a cool guy.

Aigis's expression became wistful. "Yes…"

Minato Arisato was the leader of our –okay well their – group. Unlike the rest of the group, Minato possessed a special power. Because of this unique power, and his natural talent as a leader, everyone followed his lead. Despite his amazing combat power, he had to sacrifice himself to seal off Nyx, and prevent her from erasing humanity. He was the only one of the group who didn't survive…well okay there was some other guy named Shinji or, but I didn't know him as well. I joined the team after he had already passed away.

"Well…I'm sure one day we can find a way to release him." I dusted off myself and stood back up, trying to look positive. Actually, why am I trying? Do I really care about the people I meet? Hmm…Anyway… "I've always looked forward to a day when we can all walk alongside him again."

"Thank you…" I helped her up to her feet. Even if she has the body of a machine, her heart is real. I'd rather not see her cry. I'd look like quite the bad guy.

"Alright, I'll give this another try." I focused my mind again. If I can't summon a mystical weapon…I can try something simple.

"Trace…on!" I uttered some words that I shouldn't know. Another borrowed ability. Maybe this one will work.

In my mind, I am finally able to see something, the weapons I am attempting to summon: the twin short swords Kanshou and Bakuya, black and white swords representing Yin and Yang. If I recall correctly_..."They were created without vanity, and lack a sense of purpose found in other swords. They contain no fighting spirit to defeat others or competitive spirit to beat other weapons, and they contain neither the desire to be famous nor the faith to accomplish great deeds." _Unlike the blades' original user, I cannot use magic. I can only take things from different realities and reuse them.

Thus…the weapons transcend space and time to appear in my hands, heeding the call of another wielder. The blades in my hand were pulled from the past to compensate for my inability to use magic.

"Hishikawa-san! You are able to use your powers now?" Aigis was excited and relieved at first, but then immediately confused. "These weapons aren't the ones you usually wield."

"These only take a miniscule amount of my original power." I examined the twin swords, feeling greatly disappointed. It's hard to believe that the image of these two swords in my mind is the only thing that wasn't inaccessible.

"_Nara Hishikawa. I apologize for the interruption, but I have detected two of your subjects about 12 meters below you. Would you like to intervene?"_ Ellie brought up a visual interface, with a live feed showing four people – two familiarly looking high school students among them - running away from zombies. They seemed to be in a sewer.

"Wait…12 meters below…" I instinctively looked towards the manhole that Aigis blew up. "Oh…shit…" There weren't any more zombies up here anymore…

"Hishikawa-san!" Aigis wasn't one to wait around when there's action required on the stage, even though her role of protecting me is already over. "Allow us to assist them."

I can't say I feel compelled to risk my life while their deaths are not permanent. But I did start the whole experiment on a whim anyway. Besides, it has been a while since Aigis and I fought back to back against enemies.

"Alright, let's go after them." I motioned towards the manhole. "Take point and secure the entrance."

"Understood." Aigis activated her weapons again. "Please provide support and keep track of our targets."

"Hmm. Ellie, mark a waypoint to them. Use the Augmented Reality Navigators and Motion Tracker to keep us out of the way of enemies. Keep their live feed on the interface, reduce interface size to 300 by 200."

This would be another one of Ellie's useful traits: the ability to use augmented reality to make most tasks a lot simpler. A motion tracking device will highlight possible hostiles and the waypoint arrows are invaluable in a place without lighting. Right now I'm really glad the Reality Projection System came with an AI.

"_As you wish, Nara Hishikawa." _The Augmented Reality's navigational arrows appeared. In addition, all moving things were marked and highlighted in red.

"Haha…just like old times, rescuing people from Tartarus." I chuckled to myself. "Time to roll."

….

**Chapter 10 β: Signs of Conflict (Kyon)**

Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones.

"Hey Koizumi." I gripped my rifle tighly. "You feel that too, don't you?"

"The disturbing increase of temperature and the feeling of bloodlust?" Koizumi kept smiling like nothing was wrong.

Tell me something, do your esper powers allow you to detect the emotions of people asides from Haruhi?

"No, I made that last part up." Koizumi chuckled creepily. "However, the abnormal increase in temperature would probably be from…" Koizumi's gaze went past the ruined San Francisco skyscrapers. "That massive firestorm over there."

Firestorm? Wait, what? I followed his line of sight. Indeed, beyond one of the skyscrapers there was an extraordinary blaze alight, maybe half the size of the skyscraper. I didn't notice it until just now…

"That wasn't there a few minutes ago." Koizumi got up. "I think we should investigate at once." Koizumi activated his radio. "P.S.S call. Stella, I need you out here with us. Something's happened and we need to investigate. Everyone else stay in the trailer."

Shortly after the radio call, Stella exited the trailer and joined us. "Rothcol. What's wrong?"

"There's a fire over there. And not an ordinary fire." Koizumi pointed towards the inferno. It seems to be getting bigger. "We're going to see what's going on there."

Stella nodded curtly. She ran off towards the fire, taking the lead. Koizumi and I followed just behind her.

…..

When we reached the source of the fire, I saw something expected.

"Ah, it's happening again!" A panicked girl's voice.

There were two girls locked in combat with each other. One of was wearing a red hooded cape and black combat skirt. She looked quite scared and not sure what to do about the situation. She had a large mechanical scythe in her hands but all she was doing was rolling and jumping around, avoid the bursts of fire that the other girl was shooting at her.

I didn't recognize the girl with the hood. But I did recognize the one holding a katana and shooting the fire. Shana…? Was that her name? She didn't look exactly as I remember her…since she wasn't wearing a school uniform. Instead she had a black coat and her hair was red like the blazing fire around her. A dark aura encapsulated her. Hold on, I had a vision of her like this during one of the games we were in. Well, first I have to get her to stop shooting fire around or she'll burn this whole place down.

"Shana!" I called out.

The girl with the katana paused and looked at me. And that's when I noticed. Her eyes were blank and soulless. I'm no specialist about the supernatural, but typically that means you're either dead or possessed.

All of a sudden, in Shana's expression I saw madness and bloodlust. The next thing I knew, she was almost right in front of me, and her katana was about to pierce through my skull. But…

A blue blade flashed in front of my eyes, merely centimeters away. It blocked the katana and deflected it away.

"Iksa Blade."

Stella stood between me and Shana, protecting me. In her right hand was a mysterious glowing blue katana.

In that moment, the girl with the red hood finally took the offensive. Dashing behind Shana, she slashed at her back diagonally with the flat side of her scythe. Shana effortlessly warded the attack, sending her blade in a crescent sweep behind her without even turning around. That was quickly followed up by a spinning slash.

The red hooded girl was dumbfounded momentarily but she regained her composure quickly enough evade. In the blink of an eye she reappeared next to me. Red rose petals were fluttering in the air for some reason. Stella made a slicing motion in a wide arc. Instantly all the fire in the area was extinguished by the blade slicing through the air. She then jumped at Shana with an overhead vertical slash. Shana raised her own blade in defense. A fierce duel was in the making.

"So uh…" The girl smiled awkwardly. "You guys are friendly, right? You're not going to shoot fire or ice at me?"

"Provided you aren't some extra-terrestrial life form that wants to eat us all, we'll give you a hand." Koizumi placed his hand on her shoulder while wearing a warm smile.

…Damn you Koizumi, acting like some kind of knight in shining armour.

"Oh, haha. That's uh…good to hear." The girl removed her hood, revealing her dark brown hair and silver eyes. She actually has a pretty cute face, I'll admit. But she looks too young for someone who is running around with a dangerous weapon.

"So…I'm Rothcol. You can call me Koizumi. That's Stella…" Koizumi motions towards the black haired girl with twin tails and a black hooded coat exchanging thundering blows with Shana, and then me. "…and Kyon."

"My name's Ruby, but you can always call me…" An awkward pause and embarrassed look from Ruby. "Actually you can just call me Ruby. And I am not an alien by the way. Just a regular person…who is hopelessly lost."

I was getting worried about Stella. It seemed like in swordsmanship, Shana is the stronger one. Stella was forced back. She blocked two slashes, but the third stung her in the forearm and the fourth left a slash on her thigh.

"Hold on." Ruby jumped back into the fray, deflecting two arced strikes that were meant for Stella's chest. "Let me help you, Stella."

Shana kicked away from her two opponents to put some distance between them. I could see her analyzing the enemy combatants with her empty eyes, trying to decide a course of action. It was almost as if…she was programmed for fighting.

"Maybe that's it…" I clutched my rifle tightly. "Koizumi, I think we need to knock her out cold. She's being controlled or something."

"You match my deductions exactly." Koiuzmi concurred, but he was frowning, deep in thought.

Despite Ruby's speed and strength in using her weapon and Stella's dexterity and tenacity, Shana was holding them both off almost effortlessly. If Shana was attacked from the front and from behind simultaneously, her sword flashes around her, blocking any and all attacks, so fast that I couldn't even see the katana. I could see that Ruby even transformed her mechanical scythe into a rifle a few times and that yielded no results.

Koizumi…it may just be me, but something seems off about the way Shana is fighting.

"Hmm." Koizumi nodded. "Her perception of attacks is bordering on precognition. Whoever is controlling her is boosting her combative abilities."

A kick from Shana sends Stella flying through the air and smashing into the wall of a nearby building.

"Shit…!" I ran over to Stella as fast as I could.

She was still breathing, but the look on her face told me she was in extreme agony. I examined her body.

She was covered in cuts and bruises and exhausted. She was in no condition to fight anymore.

"Stella, stay here. I'll take over." I took the Iksa Blade from Stella's hand.

"Critical repair." Stella managed to say those two words. All of her wounds started healing immediately. But from the looks of it, it's a process that'll take some time. And Ruby doesn't look like she'll hold up against Shana on her own.

The memories that I have don't provide me with much experience in using swords in the same way Stella and Shana do. But I'll leave it as a last resort. I aimed my rifle. "Ruby, out of the way!"

Ruby blinked away and reappeared about six meters away from Shana. I aimed just towards the left of Shana. I squeezed the trigger. A blinding flash and explosion followed. Shana was blown off her feet, quite literally. She landed a good distance away from the smoking crater left by the rifle. She was still conscious though. Looks like while she can deflect bullets and block sword strikes in rapid succession, she still can't easily evade something that travels at the speed of light. That being said knocking her out without injuring her too much is still proving to be difficult.

Koizumi grinned knowingly and walked up next to me. It seems my move gave him some inspiration. "Well, looks like this won't be too hard. Miss Ruby, if you may move to a safe distance." A large fireball twice the size of a soccer ball appeared in his hand.

Right…I forgot that for some reason he gets full access to all of his powers. Now I get why he wasn't doing anything at first. Koizumi refrained from fighting until he could end the fight instantly. Not understanding the situation but nodding, Ruby leaped about ten meters into the air and over us, getting completely out of the way.

"Fumoffu!" Koizumi hurled the fireball at Shana's feet.

Shana tried to jump out of the way, but the fireball made an impossible arc towards her, ignoring the laws of inertia and momentum. It exploded upon contact with the ground.

"!"

I dropped down towards the ground. The explosion was nothing short of cataclysmic. The light and sound of the explosion were so intense I had to cover my ears and shut my eyes. The heat swept over me, and it was overwhelming. Forget about my gun causing injuries, this would've been enough to disintegrate a person.

When the dust and ashes settled, Shana was lying motionless in the massive fissure that the fireball created. She seemed mostly unhurt, miraculously enough.

"Koizumi…what the hell? You could've killed someone with that!"

"I adjusted my aim so that the explosion would only render her unconscious. She was never in any true danger."

I turned around and saw Ruby with eyes as big as saucers. They were sparkling with admiration for Koizumi. "Oh my gosh…that was so cool! That was absolutely amazing! The explosion from that was totally over the top awesome!" I think I heard her squeal a few times from what seemed to be uncontrollable excitement. This girl might give Haruhi a run for her money in the hyperactivity department…

"It wasn't that hard to do. It's only about a 10th of my power." Koizumi winked, like some kind of handsome con-artist.

"Are. You. A hunter?" Ruby looked like she was ready to get on her knees and ask for an autograph.

I need to put an end to this. Quickly, before I lose my mind.

"Anyway…" I helped Stella to her feet. Her injuries had all healed by now. "Who are you and where are you from?" Koizumi walked towards Shana. I guess he'll be taking care of her for now.

"Oh uh…" Ruby regained her composure and stood up straight. She folded the mechanical scythe into a compact form and holstered it. "Ahem…once again, I'm Ruby Rose, the leader of Team RWBY, and a huntress in training. I'm looking for a way to get back to Beacon, since, well…I somehow got lost and ended up here."

What is this beacon you speak of? Some kind of light? Or…?

"Oh, Beacon, as in the academy. You guys have never heard of it?"

Nope. And what's this about a hunter and huntress?

"Huh…that's weird…I was sure that everyone knew about hunters and huntresses. Where have you been living for all of your life?"

Japan. That is, until today. Though presently, I don't even know where I am half the time.

"Japan? Never heard of it." Ruby crossed her arms, looking more and more puzzled.

Allow me to make an assumption, since we sans Stella are all in this situation: You're from a different world and you've somehow wandered into this one.

"Whoa…so I'm in another world, huh? That's a lot to take in." Ruby looked awed. "You guys aren't from this world either?"

Well, Stella is. The rest of us, no. And we're also trying to figure out why someone we knew just tried to kill us.

"Haha...strangers are just friends you haven't met, right? Well, at least that's what Yang says. And since we're kinda stuck here, how about let's all work together and try to get back to where we…. should be." Ruby was pressing her index fingers together timidly. Acting awkward yet again, huh? I guess this is typically how she is around strangers: hyperactive yet awkward.

"Hey, it looks like she's awake now." Koizumi called us over.

As I approached Shana, I had to wonder what kind of enemy we're dealing with and if we'd all be able to leave in one piece. The answer to all of the questions I had about this situation will start with asking her if she remembers anything at all. And I'm rather desperate for answers right now. Especially the answer to "where is Haruhi, Nagato, and Miss Asahina?". I'm worried about everyone. I can only hope that they're alright and work things out with Koizumi from our end.


	13. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: City of Darkness (Nara Hishikawa)**

We've been following the route that Ellie gave us for a few minutes now. As such, I must make a comment about sewers: god damn it, the sewers smell horrendous, and trying to run through the water is sending chills down my spine.

Gritting my teeth and trying my best to keep composed, I waded through this foul brew. There weren't any hostiles nearby that Ellie can find, so at least I don't have to worry about getting splashed with sewage for now.

"_We are closing in on our targets. Distance is less than 100 meters. Take a right up ahead." _A marker appeared, signalling the right turn.

Oh yeah, that's another thing; the lack of lights down here. Do you know the one thing I hate more than having monsters and sewage in one place? That'd be monsters and sewage and only one flashlight to deal with it all. The flashlight is courtesy of Aigis.

"You appear to be repulsed by our surroundings. Is this really that bad compared to what we have encountered before?" Aigis did a quick scan of the ceiling while saying that.

"You have no idea." I muttered grimly and readied Kanshou and Bakuya. "Conserve your ammunition. We're gonna need some bullets in case."

A few steps past the right turn I saw something falling from the ceiling. It looked like a white piece of string, as if it were pulled out from wool sweater. I looked up.

"!"

I'm frozen in fear where I stand. For up on that ceiling was…

I screamed out loud. "It's a spi…It's a spider…It's a...ARACHNID!"

Yeah I was scared half to death. This was no ordinary spider you could crush with your heel. This thing was the size of a person…! I could make out every little detail on it, including the eight eyes and those razor sharp fang-like things!

"_Do you require something to hide behind? I am afraid I cannot provide anything tangible for you to cower behind." _Ellie was mocking me at a time like this…?!

Three "bang" sounds came from behind me. Aigis had deployed her Gatling Gun and fired a burst into the spider's head. It dropped down from the ceiling, splashing sewer water all over my face.

"GAH!" I spat out the water that had ended up in my mouth and frantically tried to wipe the sewage away. This…is freaking disgusting…

"My sincerest apologies Hishikawa-san…" Aigis retracted her weapon, looking quite apologetic and embarrassed. "I only intended to save you from possible injuries…"

"_Nara Hishikawa, I believe that if you make more noise, you will attract more hostiles to you. Also, your targets are getting further away." _

I slammed Kanshou against a nearby wall in frustration. "Locating hostiles was **YOUR** responsibility! You scared the crap out of me when you didn't mark that giant dirty spider!"

"_My apologies. I can only mark moving things…I am not as omnipotent as you are."_

I growled. I'll get her back for this later, but now's not the time or the place. I heard gunshots coming from further down the sewer. Based on the markings, there are several zombies chasing the group of four we were following.

"Aigis, let's pick up the pace." I started sprinting forward, staying as far away as I could from the body of the dead spider. Screw these spiders, if I don't stop moving they can't take me by surprise.

Aigis followed not too far behind, and she had her flashlight aimed up at the ceiling to avoid any more surprises. We approached the source of the gunshots, and found the subjects near a catwalk. The two high school students were being protected from the horde of undead by a police officer and a woman in a red biker jacket.

"Our enemy is unaware of our presence. We must strike while the iron is hot." Aigis activated her thursters to close the gap quickly.

I smiled smugly. "I'll keep up."

Aigis dashed towards the zombies, and made a bone-crushing impact against two of them. Quickly, Aigis brought down her fists with tremendous force, obliterating the skulls of the downed foes. I charged forward behind her, and a zombie lunged at me with snapping bloodstained teeth. Supressing my fear of the zombie's intimidating appearance I made a slashing motion in an X with Kanshou and Bakuya. This instantly decapitated the wretched creature.

"Don't shoot, we're human!" I yelled as I plunged the blade of Bakuya into another nearby zombie's left eye socket. No sooner had I said that Aigis had terminated all of the remaining zombies by bashing their faces in.

"_You lost that round quite badly. 13 to 2 is a pitiful excuse for competition."_

"Zip it, I'm not keeping score this time." It could just be me, but it seems like Ellie is **trying** to piss me off today.

The police officer looked down at us, perplexed. "You two don't seem like ordinary citizens to me. Want to start explaining?" He gestured towards the mangled corpses next to Aigis.

"That is for you to guess and for us to know." I retorted and pointed at the two high school students. "We'll be taking those to into protective custody. They're my friends. I appreciate your taking care of them up until now."

"Kid, do you have any idea how dangerous of a situation you're in right now?" This guy looked pissed, probably for a good reason. "I know you're worried about your friends, but if you think you can defend yourself against these things…"

"It is fine." Aigis spoke up. "As I am sure you can see we are quite capable of defending ourselves."

"Leon…" The woman with the biker jacket put her hand on the police officer's shoulder. "We still have to find Sherry. We don't have time to be arguing about this."

"Uh…don't I get a say in this?" This guy is...Hisao. I couldn't tell for a moment since he's covered in mud and God Knows what else. He sounded annoyed and anxious. "Don't you think it'd be better if we all stuck together?"

"Indeed, there is strength in numbers." Aigis looked at me expectantly. "It would be best if we could all cooperate."

The look on her face told me "as much as I'd like to get you out of here, I'm not going to abandon people who need us". And…here is where I regret being so charitable to other people, because it puts my neck in danger. I guess you could say my personality is more geared towards helping others than helping myself.

Hisao, with an angry look, walked over to me, speaking quietly. "You better damn well explain to me what the hell is going on here. One second we're all getting ready for the next day and the next there's flesh-eating monsters chasing us around! And I have no idea where Shizune is!"

"Y'know mate, I'm honestly dying for an explanation myself." I shrug, trying to avoid looking suspicious. "I even went to the trouble of wearing this nice suit for tomorrow's events…" Well, not like I can play dumb for too long.

That's the other issue I've got here. Eventually, I will have to explain what I did to everyone. The Overlaying, tampering with space-time continuums, and all the supernatural stuff the System did to boot. I'm probably going to get an earful or worse from everyone, but…I have to be held accountable. My safety measures didn't work, and that's why we're all in this mess.

"I don't usually believe in the supernatural." The girl behind Hisao shuddered slightly upon saying that. "But after that just now, I'm not so sure anyone can explain what happened." Haruhi…Fujioka? I think that was her name. Heck, there were two Haruhis. Not my problem.

"This was a great first day on the job." Leon sighed, reloading his weapon. "Doubt I'm getting my paycheque."

"Ellie…can you re-calculate a route to the connection point?" I kept my voice down to avoid alerting anyone to the existence of my AI. Aigis doesn't matter since I've already told everything about myself to her, but these guys can't know about it. Not yet anyway.

"_New route computed. The sewers should take you to the Umbrella Research Facility. From there, you should be able to navigate your way to the evacuation trains. I advise you to take caution as this will involve traversing several floors of that facility. If you encounter a Tyrant there, even Aigis won't be able to protect you."_

Yeah, I know. If we get found by one of those things, we are truly in deep trouble. Just thinking about the possibility is causing my knees to shake. If the most dangerous hunting dog in this world attacked us…a painless death is out of the question.

"Okay, how about this." I pull Hisao to my side and wrap my arm around him. Time to act overly friendly. "You two go find this Sherry person that you are referring to, and the rest of us will secure an escape. We'll reconvene at the emergency personnel evacuation trains in the laboratory."

Hisao broke free of me and shoved me back, looking more than a bit irritated. "Hey, that's so creepy. Give me some personal space!"

On the other hand, Leon instantly trained his weapon at my face upon hearing my words. I felt a sudden surge of icy terror but I stood my ground.

"Are you working for Umbrella?" Leon asked with his index finger on the gun's trigger. "How do you know about that facility?"

"Do not sweat the details. I don't work for anyone by the way. I am merely someone trying to organize a get together for high school students." It isn't a lie, and I sure hope he buys it.

"Leon, it doesn't matter." The woman urged him to get going. "We can figure this out later, but right now Sherry is our priority!"

Reluctantly, Leon lowered his pistol. "You owe me an explanation once we're all out of here." His glare was menacing, like a bear staring down a rabbit.

If memory serves right, this Raccoon City stuff is what started his career as a government agent working against bioterrorism. He'll find out a lot more about the Umbrella Corporation once this is all said and done. But that knowledge isn't mine to give.

Ascending the stairs, Leon and the woman walked further and further away. Soon I couldn't hear their footsteps.

"Okay, Hisao, Ms. Fujioka." I smiled as best as I could. "We'll be going that way. This situation will be resolved as fast as possible."

"Seriously, you need to tell us what happened. I can tell this isn't a dream." Hisao grabbed me by the collar. "I don't believe in magic or stuff like that, but this is too real." He relaxed his grip slightly and lowered his gaze. "You're my friend and I trust you. Can't you do the same for me?"

It's true that we are good friends. In his reality, we were on the student council together. We did everything that Shizune ordered us to and more. We were together through thick and thin. If either of us had a problem, we confided in each other; we always had each other's backs, even if it was for a stupid reason like beating Shizune at Risk. Hisao and Aigis…I daresay my bond with these two people run deeper than with any other people I've encountered while using the System. Maybe that's why I don't want to leave. No time passes in my reality when I'm here. Everything about the System is better. I can see out of my left eye again. I have people who are precious to me, people who care about me. I have bonds that can't be broken…and I met someone who taught me the truth about living. It's like…loving your dreams more than reality itself.

I gently removed Hisao's hands. I don't blame him for being angry. "I know you deserve an explanation. But the time for that is not here and now. As for Shizune…you'll get to see her again eventually, okay? I don't mean that as in we're all going to die. I mean that we'll find her."

"I need to find Tamaki and the others as well. Nara, you promise you'll tell us everything? Please don't keep your friends in the dark like this." Haruhi had a firm expression, a determination to know the truth. Ugh…I guess I really will have to tell them about my experiments…the sooner the better.

"I promise. Until then, you two are together with Aigis." I looked at Aigis straight in the eye, signalling to her to protect them rather than me.

Aigis appeared to understand my intentions…or so I thought. She seemed bewildered by my proposal.

"Do you not think that having one person being shared by two is a bit…unorthodox?" Is it possible for a robot girl with a personality to look flustered? Because I think I just saw it happen. "Though I am still naïve to the ways of social interaction…two timing is-"

"No, no, no…you missed the point entirely!" I shake my head furiously. Smoooooth Aigis. Real good way to help me out here. I suppose my wording was poor, but…

"Okay, y'know what, enough of this." I grabbed Hisao and pulled him towards me again. "You can stay with me and Haruhi can be with Aigis. We all good now?" Oh wait, I think I just made some terrible pairings…two guys and two girls…

"DUDE!" Hisao whacked me on the head. "Personal…space!"

Just for the moment, I will forget that we're trapped in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

….


	14. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Why do you fight? (Kyon)**

**Note: When you see [1], I recommend that you play your choice of battle music while reading this. It may greatly improve your overall reading experience. If you don't know what to use, I recommend "Emiya – Original Version" from Fate Stay/Night.**

"Ngh…" Shana opened her eyes slowly. "What happened…?"

Looks like that explosion definitely hurt. Her face is really pale.

"You were unconscious for a while…" Ruby knelt down beside Shana. "Are you okay now?"

"I'm fine…" Shana tried to get up but Koizumi stopped her.

"Stay still for a bit. Before you lost consciousness, you seemed as if you were being controlled by someone else. Can you tell us what you remember?"

Shana's gaze fell upon the heavily injured Stella who was still healing. "Did I do this…?"

Koizumi shook his head. "It wasn't your fault. That's why we need to know what happened to you."

"Shana!" A voice called out from the distance. A kid about my age was running towards us.

"Yuji…?" Shana seemed to recognize him.

By the time the kid reached us, he was already exhausted and wheezing, completely out of breath. He must've run a marathon to get here.

"Thank goodness I found you." Yuji dropped down to his knees, relief sweeping over him. "Why did you run off all of sudden, and who are these people?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Why is everyone asking me questions?!"

"Oh wait…" Yuji noticed me and Koizumi. "Weren't you two at the convention thing as well?" He looked directly at me and had a realization. "You were the guy who got nailed by that foam sword back during the intermission right?"

Oh jeez, that's a fine way to remember someone. Though I suppose since our interactions were limited I can overlook that…

"Yeah, that was me." I sigh.

"It's good to finally see some familiar faces." Yuji bowed towards Ruby and Stella. "I'm Yuji Sakai."

"Not to break up the introductions but…" Koizumi had this weird serious look on his face. It was really creepy, considering how he's usually grinning like an idiot.

"Sorry, I forgot." Yuji took a moment to catch his breath. "Up until now…"

According to Yuji, he and Shana went to sleep in the residencies, but woke up in a ruined building. After that, they tried to figure out where they were and wandered around. Eventually they were attacked by the same aliens that attacked me. They defeated anything they encountered but then all of a sudden Shana froze up, and shortly after she ran away, leaving Yuji very confused. So Yuji ran from where they were to here, which Yuji approximates as five kilometers. Apparently that was accumulation of all of the events that directed preceded our fight with Shana.

"That doesn't tell us anything though." I'm almost amused at how little we have to go on. I still know nothing about Haruhi, Nagato, or Miss Asahina. "All I'm getting is that we were living our ordinary lives and somehow we all ended up here."

"Wait, so…maybe I should tell everyone what happened before I got here?" Ruby exchanged glances with everyone.

"Yeah, definitely." Yuji nodded.

Ruby reintroduced herself to everyone, and said that she was on a mission somewhere when all of a sudden her surroundings changed into the ruins of San Francisco. The first thing she noticed was that at the very top of the ruined skyscraper in front of us there was a blonde haired woman wearing a black jumpsuit and some kind of exo-skeleton. She seemed to be looking for someone or something. Ruby was going to follow her but the woman jumped off the skyscraper in the other direction, and moments after she was attacked by Shana.

…How good of an eyesight would you need to notice that?

"Hmm…" Koizumi was contemplating something. "Going from memory, that description doesn't match anyone from the convention. This woman…we need to find her if we want to get a good grasp of our situation."

You don't mean that we're going to go after her?

"We don't have a clue where Nara is, so it is realistically our only choice." Koizumi tapped his communicator. "P.S.S. Call. Stella and I found traces of an unknown enemy. We're moving to conduct reconnaissance. Can you leave the motorcycle at these coordinates?...Uh-huh…Yeah I know…Sorry for the trouble, and thanks."

Koizumi looked satisfied. "Transportation should be prepared just in case. If you'd prefer flying of course…" Koizumi winks at me.

That's so creepy, man.

"What are we going to do?" Yuji inquired.

Shana stood up. The colour had returned to her face, and she looks ticked off. "We're going to find whoever did this."

"I presume everyone else has a method of transportation. We're going to head on out past the skyscraper and see what we can find. Stella, you'll be taking Kyon with you. Head back towards where the trailer is and get the motorcycle."

"Understood."

I examined Stella. Her injuries have completely healed now. It feels crappy to be a burden to a girl, but I guess it can't be helped here. Oh, something that just came to mind…

"Hey Stella, did you know that Koiz- I mean Rothcol could use magic?" I completely forgot that magic shouldn't be allowed in a futuristic world like this…would this cause some sort of problem for us?

"Yes." Stella tilted her head slightly. "He is with us on all field missions because of that. I don't know what sorts of things were done to him to give him those powers though…"

I'll go under the assumption that some kind of memory altering process is at work here. Just like how Koizumi got Rothcol's memories, everyone else has had their memories changed accordingly.

"Well then." Koizumi took Ruby's hand, and a massive red sphere formed around the two of them.

"Whoa, wait, hey!" Ruby tried to protest, but Koizumi and Ruby were floating a couple of meters off the ground already. Ruby's eyes lit up with excitement again. "Wow…you can fly, too?"

You know, this whole knight in shining armour thing is really starting to irritate me. It's like seeing Taniguichi bragging about how he got a girlfriend back during Christmas. As if on cue, Yuji took Shana's hand, and fiery wings emerged from Shana's shoulders. Guess they're all set as well.

Koizumi and Ruby shot off towards the sky at an incomprehensible speed. Shana held Yuji in her arms and followed after them. I swear to the guys upstairs that I can hear Ruby's shout of exhilaration trailing off as Koiuzmi and Shana got further away.

Suddenly I'm swept off my feet.

"Wha-?"

Stella had picked me up and was carrying me bridal style.

"What the hell are you-"

Before I could say another word in protest, Stella had taken off in the direction that Koizumi told her to go. She was running so fast that I couldn't say anything out of fear of biting my tongue.

…..

When we reached the motorcycle, Stella set me down beside it.

"Don't do that to people without asking them first!" I protested with all of my might. Not that it matters much now since what's done is done.

"…" Our eyes meet.

Stella looks at me with somewhat timid eyes and…

"Did I do something wrong?"

In her eyes, I could see the same naiveté and innocence that a child should have. Maybe I shouldn't have been so angry; she probably hasn't had experience in dealing with people, especially considering her situation.

I take a deep breath. Then I speak. "When people are capable of walking on their own, don't do something like that. It's embarrassing for them."

"Embarrassing?" Stella took in what I said and thought about it for moment. "So, you don't feel good when I do that?"

The palm of my hand covers my face. She's not wrong, but she's not right either.

"I'll let Koi- I mean Rothcol explain that to you later. For now, we should catch up before they get too far away."

"Hmm." Stella mounts the motorcycle and revs it.

I have no choice but to sit behind her. And moreover if I don't want to fall off I have to hold her by the waist. Ugh….This is awkward. I sit directly behind Stella and slowly, I wrap my arms around her. If this were Miss Asahina in the driver's seat…actually I don't even want to imagine how that would turn out for me.

"Tally-ho." Stella floors the motorcycle, and it zooms with an alarmingly fast speed towards where Koizumi and Shana were headed.

This will be a blind search. The only clue we have is what Ruby told us. If I want any chance of finding the rest of the SOS Brigade, it'll have to start with this needle in a haystack.

…..

Driving through the ruins of San Francisco was a bumpy ride to say the least. Most of the roads were in ruins, to the point where they look just like blocks sticking out of the ground. Stella's definitely no pushover when it comes to navigating this kind of terrain though. Despite how often we'd be tossed into the air by the road she always managed to get back on track and avoid a collision. I suppose the scariest thing would be that she's dodging lasers fired at us by random aliens along the way as well. It's like something right out of a bullet hell game, except our hitboxes are not one pixel.

All of a sudden Stella took one hand off the motorcycle's hand to answer her communicator.

"Rothcol? Huh? What? Don't come closer?"

In the distance, I see a massive explosion. It's a distinctively different sound from the explosion that Koizumi's fireball makes. This can only mean…

"Stella, pick up the pace! We have to catch up to them." I urged Stella forward.

"But Rothcol said to not come closer…" Stella was conflicted between following Koizumi's order and mine.

"Stella, when your friends are in danger, you have to help them." I said firmly. She has to understand this, right?

"…I…understand…" Stella brought the motorcycle back up to top speed. She sounded reluctant. I guess this isn't the first time she was told to abandon an ally to survive.

As we flew over the last piece of road in our way and made it to an overpass, I see a horrifying sight.

Ruby, Shana, and Yuji are all sprawled out on the road. They're all grievously wounded too. I could see a red stain on Yuji's white shirt below his neck and Ruby had a gash in her side, likely caused by some sort of large blade. They weren't moving at all. I couldn't tell if they were alive or not.

Koizumi was standing in front of all of them protecting them. I realized with a shock what was happening; Koizumi's blood was draining because he was bleeding profusely from a wound on the lower left part of his stomach. There isn't much longer before he collapses. The sight of it squeezed out every last ounce of composure I had left.

"Koizumi! Hang in there!" I jumped off the bike and activated my jet pack, landing in front of Koizumi. His legs give out and he tumbles into my arms.

"Didn't I tell you to stay away?" Koizumi chuckled wearily. But contrary to his joking mood, he started coughing up blood soon after.

"Hang on." I rip off a part of his uniform to use as a compress. I've never seen anyone else so to death before. I'm not a doctor, but I have to try. I can't just let Koizumi die. I pressed the piece of cloth on his wound. It won't do much though; his wound is just as serious if not worse than everyone else's.

"You know, Miss Suzumiya wouldn't have wanted to you be in danger like this." As if those were his last words, Koizumi's eyelids shut. Is he gone…? No, he's still alive for now.

"Insolent pests…" A woman's voice came from on top of the overpass.

I look up. Blonde hair…black jumpsuit…an exo-skeleton that looked similar to the suit I have. Koizumi sure tracked her down quickly, but everything went to shit after that.

The woman's azure eyes pierce into my soul. I have never seen such a menacing gaze from anyone, not even Haruhi.

"You…" Swallowing my dread, I set Koizumi down and release my rifle from its compact form. "Why did you do this?" Considering how strong Koizumi is and how injured he is, he was definitely unprepared for her.

"I'm looking for someone. And if you all get in my way…" She raises some kind of handgun and aimed it at my heart. "You will die. I don't have time for this nonsense."

"Who are you?"

"Tch." The woman gritted her teeth in annoyance. "My name is Rivalea Fayanne. I'm looking for a Nara Hishikawa."

"Nara?" I repeated the name aloud. This woman wants to find him so badly that she's willing to kill anyone for it?

"You know him?" Rivalea jumped off the overpass and landed only a few meters from me.

"So what if I do?" I scowl at Rivalea. At this moment, Stella pulled up next to me and dismounted her vehicle.

Rivalea's index finger moved onto the trigger of her weapon. "If you value your life and the lives of your pitiful friends, you will answer me."

Upon seeing this blatant act of aggression, Stella materializes her massive cannon and assumes a fighting stance. A second handgun is drawn from its holster and its barrel is making a beeline to Stella's forehead.

I glance towards Koizumi and the others. Just from their injuries alone, all of them might…

"Stella…take care of Koizumi and the others." I make a risky decision, but at this rate none of us will escape. "Stop the bleeding if you can. I'll handle this."

Oh wait, I didn't say Rothcol. Well, she understands I bet.

Stella hesitates, but she does relent. Her weapon dissolves away as quickly as it appeared and she rushes to Koizumi's side. I don't know how good Stella's first aid skills are, but if both of us are fighting Koizumi and Ruby will bleed to death.

**[1]**

"So you challenge me without hesitation." Rivalea clicked her tongue and aimed both her weapons at me. "You are quite the cocky one. Why do you fight? Especially when you know how outmatched you are."

"I suggest…" I raised my rifle in response. "You worry about yourself."

I can't fight like Nagato or Koizumi. I've only got these memories that aren't mine as back up, and that definitely won't be enough if this Rivalea person can take out four combatants alone. I'm scared stiff right now. But if I can't win, I won't be able to find Haruhi and everyone will die.

I can't…let that happen.

"You fool." Two shots are discharged at me.

"!" Time slows down for me. Rivalea's weapons fire some sort of glowing projectile. One is traveling towards my stomach, the other towards my neck.

I sidestep the shot meant for my neck, but the one aimed for my stomach grazes me. Even with this suit I can feel the heat of the projectile. It's like being stabbed by a red hot fireplace iron..!

"Damn you…!" I fired my rifle. A burst of light appears, and where Rivalea once stood was a smoking crater. But I knew she had gotten out of the way in time. I just don't see her right now.

"Where are you looking?" Rivalea's voice came from behind me.

"!" Time slowed down for me again. I let my guard down and now she's in my blind spot. But this is also a chance for me to apprehend her if I play my cards right.

A blade strikes me on the right side. But Rivalea had underestimated my suit's durability. The blade connects but doesn't scratch the suit. I spin around to face her. Dropping my rifle, I grab the arm that's holding the sword.

"Tch…!" Rivalea tried to pull back, but she can't break free from my grip, and she can't shoot me when she's this close.

I throw a punch into her face. "Hah-!"

But before my punch could connect…

"Gah-?!" A lightning fast kick strikes my chest.

Before I could process what just happened, two more kicks assault me. I stagger backwards and almost lose my grip. I grit my teeth and refuse to let my opponent escape. I pull myself towards her.

My free arm flew towards Rivalea, accelerated by the suit's propulsion system. She ducks my punch, but I land a glancing blow.

"Ow….you're…annoying!" The heel of Rivalea's boots lights up with a red glow.

"Guh-?!" The next thing I knew was that I was hit with a hard impact in my stomach.

I flew backwards through the air and smashed into Stella's motorcycle. My vision was blurry, but I could feel dirt and concrete flying in all directions from the impact.

That knocked the wind out of me. The suit took most of the impact, but a sharp pain shot through my midsection. Just how strong was that kick? I couldn't even keep my grip on her. No, if we're talking about force alone, that should've been enough to pulverize all of my internal organs…!

"Maybe I underestimated you." Rivalea's sword is suddenly enveloped by a golden aura. She stabs the sword into the weapon that I dropped, rendering the rifle useless.

I get the instinctive feeling that the blade would even be able to cut through my suit now. Rivalea's faster and far stronger than I am, even though I have my suit. She's using some kind of martial art…and she's good at it too. It isn't just something made up on the spot.

Suddenly a sword is tossed at me from my left, and I manage to catch it by the handle. It's a blue katana…

"Stella." I glance over at the owner of the weapon. She nods at me, as if telling me "go on and win."

I couldn't help but grin slightly. Typically I've always been the one being protected. But right now, when the stakes are this high…

"It's no use." Rivalea drew her handgun and fired three shots at me.

I stand with my legs shoulder width apart and take a defense posture with the Iksa Blade…One, two, three glowing projectiles are deflected with ease.

"Don't push your luck, you bitch!" I taunted my enemy. With seething anger, I stared right back at her. In this sort of situation I hate it when people don't take me seriously.

In the blink of an eye, Rivalea was already in front of me with her sword upraised. "Don't fuck with me, boy!"

"!" I bring up my weapon quickly.

Sparks fly as our weapons collide. Regardless of how strong Rivalea's weapon is Stella's Iksa Blade is nigh indestructible. We're even matched here…!

"Hah-!" I swing the Iksa Blade with all of my might to stop each of Rivalea's attacks.

"Haaaa-!" But her attacks do not cease. Every attack I deflect is followed up by a blow seemingly twice as strong as the last one.

No matter how fast or in what way Rivalea swings her sword, I parry every blow. But I could definitely feel the strength behind her attacks. Each attack parried meant that I was being driven back step by step. Her attacks are so relentless and swift that I can't find an opening to counter attack. This is a definite indication of the difference in our swordsmanship. I grit my teeth in frustration, as pain begins attacking my arms. Shortly after, my grip on the Iksa Blade loosens.

"Did you really think your sword skill was superior to mine?!" Rivalea brought down a massive overhead strike, which I barely manage to stop by using my whole lower body to counter-act the force of her swing. My knees buckle slightly and I'm forced downwards.

"Go to hell!" I scream back at her. I force Rivalea's blade back and swing the Iksa Blade in a wide arc, forcing her to avoid the strike.

But no sooner did I regain my footing another vicious swing bends my arm at an unnatural angle. It was strong enough to break my arm…I have no choice but to allow the Iksa Blade fly out of my hands…!

Rivalea drew back her weapon and thrust forward, intending to finish the fight. But before her blade could impale me, a fireball came out of nowhere and exploded in front of her, forcing her to kick off the ground to gain distance away from me.

"Mind if I cut in?" Koizumi wore a mocking smile while holding another fireball in his hand. But I could tell that he wasn't ready to fight yet. He was still kneeling on the ground.

"Hyaa!" A flurry of rose petals flew through the air, and I saw the flash of a scythe in front of me. Rivalea deflects the mechanical scythe and sends its owner flying towards me.

Ruby lands just in front of me, breathing very heavily and wincing. She was clearly supressing her pain as even I could tell she was close to collapsing. She hadn't healed either. "Don't worry…I'm here with you." She smiles daringly regardless.

Rivalea looked at Stella, Koizumi, Ruby and then me. She let out an exasperated sigh. "I should've been more thorough."

Rivalea's blade retracts back into the sword's handle, and she holsters the weapon. She brings her hands close together, and a blinding blue light forms in between her palms. At the same time a barrier of some sort forms around Rivalea. The dirt and dust around her begin swirling as if they had been caught in a tornado. I could sense immense power emanating from her. Whatever her next attack is, we have to avoid it!

Koizumi threw his fireball and Ruby switched her scythe to gun mode and attacked Rivalea. But their attacks are stopped by the barrier. Rivalea stood uninjured like she was standing in the eye of a storm. The barrier drops and Rivalea extends her arms forward. A blast of blue light erupted from her hands, and it was directed towards Ruby and me!

I grabbed Ruby by the waist and used the jetpack attacked to the suit to quickly get us out of danger. I managed to avoid the blast, and looking behind me, everything caught in the blue light had turned obsidian black and smoldered. If that light catches you, you are dead for sure.

Rivalea separated her hands and both of her palms glowed with a blue light. One hand was pointed at Koizumi, the other at me and Ruby.

But before either palm released their devastating attack, Stella appeared behind Rivalea and swung the Iksa Blade at Rivalea's neck. Rivalea's body arced forward and dodged the attack and she pressed her palm into Stella's waist. Stella was blown off her feet and sent flying backwards, smoking from the attack. Stella hit the pavement hard and rolled to a stop.

"No!" I cried in horror.

"Absolute…Zero." Stella slowly got off the ground. She glared at Rivalea and materialized her cannon as the Iksa Blade by her feet dissolved away. Stella seemed completely uninjured somehow.

"You're in the way AND wasting my time." Suddenly Rivalea flew towards me and Ruby, with her sword drawn again. Ruby was in no position to avoid the attack and if I tried to get us both out one of us would be killed!

But the blade pierced neither me nor Ruby. For in between Ruby and Rivalea, Koizumi stood there. Rivalea's blade had run through his body and Koizumi had grabbed the blade, making sure Rivalea couldn't pull it out.

"No…Koizumi!" I my blood ran cold. The attack was certainly fatal. Even if Koizumi is an esper, there is no way he can survive such an attack!

Koizumi remained still in defiance like Benkei defending Yoshitsune at the Battle of Koromo River. And in this moment, Stella fired a massive projectile out of her cannon and Rivalea could not avoid it. Being hit by the massive cannonball-like rock, Rivalea was knocked away from Koizumi and was airborne for a few seconds before flying into a concrete wall.

Koizumi pulled Rivalea's sword out of his chest and threw it aside. I half expected him to turn around and smile at me. But then Koizumi fell over like a sack of rice, unmistakeably dead.

"Kyon…" Ruby became as white as a ghost, and I could see deep regret in her expression. "I'm…so sorry…"

I was too stunned to say anything. Koizumi gave his own life to protect us…

**To be continued…**


	15. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Fate and Destiny (Nara Hishikawa)**

We're now in some laboratory. Yeah, I said it. Follow Ellie's guide, walking aimlessly, with Aigis destroying anything that got in our way, we're now in some random part of a laboratory. The only distinguishing feature here is that there's some kind of…massive turntable elevator here. I never bothered venturing into this part of the City in my spare time, so I'd call us…hopelessly lost.

"This is getting us nowhere." I can see where Ellie's marker is pointed, but the reinforced doors here were preventing us from doing anything. I set down Kanshou and Bakuya and plop down on the linoleum flooring beside a doorway. "Let's sit down for a bit a rest."

"It would be wise to take time to regain our stamina." With an uncomfortable expression on her face, Aigis started meticulously wiping off the blood on her arms.

Cautiously, Hisao sits down next to me and Haruhi sits across from us with Aigis.

"So are you gonna fess up now?" Hisao wasn't going to let this go.

"…Yeah." I felt nervous. After all, I am going to be exposing my secret to them all.

I had to wonder, if I told them the truth, would they remain my friends? I never told anyone because I was afraid. I was scared I'd be left all alone again if it was known that I was an unnatural presence. I'm not someone who should exist in their world. But at the same time, if I can't trust my friends with the truth, how could I possibly expect them to trust me?

"…Well, it all began ten years ago, back when I was still just regular kid like everyone else…"

….

I was young back then; naïve, innocent, optimistic, as any child at the age of seven should have been. I took my life and everything around me for granted. I thought that my happiness and the warmth of my family could never disappear.

But…everything changed one day. I was in our car with my father and mother, going to school like always. In the blink of an eye, our small sedan was struck by a black truck on the right side. The truck had run a red light. There wasn't even time for my parents to react. Our car flipped over and flew some distance away.

The front of the car was completely crushed. My mother died right there and then from the impact. I couldn't move. A piece of the door had crushed the left side of my face and covered me in broken glass. The pain was far worse than anything I had ever experienced. It wasn't just from my injuries; it was also the moment when everything in my life was shattered like the window on that car. All I could do was cry and scream for my father and mother. I never thought that good people, like my parents and me, who had never done anything wrong could be forced to suffer like this.

My father managed to squeeze himself out through the windshield, and crawled over to where I was. By this time, the truck driver had already fled the scene with his truck. I kept crying for my father over and over again. I wanted to be saved.

"Nara…don't be scared, okay?"

Covered in blood, his voice hardly a raspy whisper, my father smiled warmly to comfort me. With his last breath, he used his only working arm and lifted the piece of metal that pressed me down. He held it up just long enough for me to get myself out of the wreckage of the car. At that instant, I noticed that along with the immense burning pain on the left side of my face, I could not see anything on my left side.

"Be a good boy, okay?" Those were the last words my father said to me.

I don't remember how long I clung to my father and cried that day. I don't remember how long before someone found me and called the authorities. But in that day my life changed more than it had in the seven years of my life.

Five years later, I was living alone in my house. My aunt was my only relative, and she took care of me after my parents died. Once I was 12, I had learned to be self-sufficient. Cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, everything I had learned over those five years. I told my aunt that I could make ends meet by myself, so she agreed to allow me to be on my own. I don't know how she felt about my insistence on being alone, but now I can only surmise that she felt hurt.

I was a loner all through junior high and high school. I realized that having bonds with people was the greatest danger to one's emotional stability. The closer you are to someone, the harder it is to accept that one day you might lose them. And when you do lose them, it hurts more than being pierced by a thousand bullets. All the other kids thought I was just strange and avoided me like the plague.

But, near the start of the first semester of my third year at high school, as I was walking home, I found it. You remember what I said before? Yeah, what I found was the Reality Projection System, sitting outside of a dumpster. I thought it to be something like a video game console back then and brought it to my house. I couldn't have even anticipated that it would bring me to whole other universes.

The first time I entered the capsule I was transported to a space of pure white. A voice spoke to me.

"Hello there. I am LE, short for Logical Executor. I ask of you, are you my new master?"

Those words...they were the first pieces of a bond I had after the accident.

I felt nervous about getting involved with other people again. But then I found out that Ellie was an artificial intelligence. I didn't think much about it; as long as she wasn't a person, she couldn't die. That was all that I cared about. No matter how much I strived to be alone…deep down I wanted someone to be with me, like my parents had always been.

"Yes." I answered confidently. "I'm Nara Hishikawa, your new master."

From there, Ellie showed what the thing I found really was. The Reality Projection System: it had the ability to travel between infinite numbers of alternate realities, whole different worlds while no time passes in your own world. Upon hearing what the System did, I felt a flame of excitement burning within my heart. Ellie told me she didn't know who created the System, or how she came to be. But she said that she'd be by my side no matter where I went. My heart swelled when I heard that; I felt truly happy for the first time in ten years. We were going to go on "magical journeys" together to different worlds, and it was going to be the best time of my life.

I met Aigis. I met Hisao. I met my master, who taught me the truth about bonds and restored the vision in my eye and of the future. I met people who I wanted to be with every second of my life. When I was with them, I felt the same warmth and happiness I felt back when my parents were still alive. And because I had the powers the System granted me, I could protect all of them. No one could ever tear apart the friendships I had made. Because of that…I never wanted to leave the System. It was like living your best dreams. The System would make those dreams as real as real can get.

The only time I ever disconnected myself from the system was after I met Midori. She was a mysterious presence, as lost as I was. I couldn't help but want to take care of her, because I saw my younger self in her. I don't know how she managed to follow me back to my reality, and I don't even remember which reality I found her in. But I left the system occasionally to spend time with her, because I wanted to know more about her as well.

In the end, there were many mysteries to the System that neither Ellie nor I could figure out. But none of that mattered. Now because of Midori, because of Ellie, Aigis, Hisao, and because of my master, I wasn't alone anymore.

I was saved from my own nihilism.

….…..…

Everyone was shocked at my story, especially Aigis and Hisao.

"Hishikawa-kun…" Rather than looking suspicious and skeptical, Aigis looked really worried. "Why did you not tell us sooner?"

I couldn't look Aigis in the eye. "I was afraid." I looked downwards. "I was afraid that you'd all leave me if you found out that I wasn't _from_ your world. I didn't want to be alone ever again."

Hisao placed a hand on my shoulder, so suddenly that I almost yelped. But when I looked at him, rather than the mistrust and anger that I was expecting, all I could see in his eyes was his genuine concern. I could feel his kindness.

"So you were an alien all this time huh?" He laughed half-heartedly but wore a soft expression. "I know what it's like to have your whole world tossed upside down when you're not ready for it. Look man, it doesn't matter where you come from. You should've told me sooner. Even if you aren't from my world…you're an irreplaceable friend. You've had my back when it counted, and that trumps everything."

"Hishikawa-kun, I feel the same." Aigis nodded in agreement. "The time we spent together, the memories that we have created, the ordeals that we have suffered through. Your past and where you come from does not change any of that. You are our precious friend. And that is the truth."

"_Do not forget, Nara Hishikawa."_ Even Ellie had something to say to me. "_You are my master, and I will follow you to any end. You will never have to be alone."_

"Everyone…" I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. They accepted me.

It's moments like these where I count myself fortunate. If I had never met Ellie, I wouldn't have met Aigis or Hisao. If I hadn't met any of them…I would never have experienced these feelings that I have now. I won't lie. Everything at this moment felt perfect. I thought that casting away my bonds with others would allow me to be satisfied with my life since I'd never be hurt again. But it seems a person can't live without connections to others.

At the same time though, I am fully aware that my being here is the same as running away from my own reality. Someday, I will still have to face the life that I left behind. That day will come very soon, I can tell.

But I won't be facing that ordeal by myself. Not anymore.

"!'

Just then, a thunderous noise came from nearby. With the peaceful moment ruined, my mind went to full alert. I leaped off the ground and grabbed Kanshou and Bakuya. Everyone else bolted up into standing positions as well.

"Ellie, what the hell was that?" I did a quick check of our immediate surroundings. I didn't see any hostiles yet.

Ellie was silent. This wasn't helping my composure at all.

"Come on Ellie! What's going on?" I demanded.

"_Nara Hishikawa, try to remain calm. There's a T-103 Tyrant about 30 meters away from your location. It is coming closer by the second."_

"!" I nearly froze with fear when I hear what I had been dreading the most.

The thunderous sounds were gradually coming closer. It was apparent now that they were footsteps.

"What's happening?" Haruhi looked panicked as well.

"There's a dangerous enemy near us, and I can't stop it. Aigis…" I looked to the dear friend that I would readily trust with my life. "Take these two and run away from here in any way you can."

"No." Aigis instantly rejected my downright preposterous suggestion. "You are not capable of combat as you are now. I will not abandon you to certain death."

"Nara." Hisao seized me by the shoulders and turned me towards him. "You need to worry about yourself as well. If I become a burden here…don't have any hard feelings about ditching me, you hear me?" Hisao was scared. He didn't want to die either but he is willing to sacrifice himself if it meant we could escape.

"No!" I shake my head furiously.

It was an outrageous suggestion, just like the one I made to Aigis. Hisao has cardiac dysrhythmia, so any attempts at running would debilitate him. The harsh reality is that it makes him a liability to us all. But I will not – no – I cannot leave one of my friends just to save myself.

"_Nara Hishikawa. You must remain calm. Remember, you are the only one in real danger here. Once you disperse the Overlaying anyone who has been killed will regain consciousness."_

Ellie's words stop my thoughts in their tracks. She's right. If they die here, they just wake up like nothing happened when I disable the Overlaying. But still, I hate the thought of having to abandon them!

Something crosses my mind just then. "What happens if I die using the System?" It's truly a question that I've never had to ask before. I've always had some sort of safety measure to ensure that I can't be killed. This situation is an exception to that.

Ellie paused for a moment before answering. _"The System Unit that you have been using will shut down permanently. You will be returned to your own world forgetting everything that has happened within the System. Do not ask how I know of this; I just know. Of course, having a way to recording everything that has happened can always alleviate this."_

I couldn't believe what i heard. If i let myself get killed right now, I would lose everything. The privilege to see my friends and all that mattered to me. I'll lose the only solidarity and joy i know. I clenched my fists. I can't let that happen. I won't ever let anything take all that away from me again.

More than ever now, I was desperate for a solution to this problem. "Ellie, find a way-**any** way to get my passive abilities working again. If you can establish even the faintest connection to null space, make it happen!" I try my best to suppress my anxiety and to not shout that command.

"Nara." Haruhi, still a bit shaken, spoke with a firm voice. "I know how much this System thing means to you. If what this Ellie person saying is true, that we come back to life even if we die, then run." She smiles at me. "I'll look forward to seeing you and Tamaki and everyone else once this is over." I could tell she was afraid even knowing that no real harm would come to her. But still, she chose to believe in Ellie and me.

"It's settled then?" Hisao let go of me. "We're all going to buy you time. You get your ass out of here, okay? And if you die, I won't ever forgive you!"

The footsteps were getting louder and louder as we were arguing.

"_Distance 15 meters. Approximate encounter time in ten seconds. Please make a decision now."_

"Aigis, are you listening? " This…is likely what I will recall as the most painful choice I was ever forced to make. "Slow that enemy down, even if it's by a little. The three of us will escape while you do that." Hisao and Haruhi looked at me as though I was insane. They had every right to, since I was literally asking Aigis to die for us.

"A wise decision." Aigis didn't flinch at the suicidal task that she had been assigned. "If you all escape now, I can rendezvous with you later."

As she says that, the Tyrant emerges from the end of the hall. The humanoid trench coat wearing monstrosity stared us down.

"As they say, stalling for time is alright." Aigis deployed her Gatling gun and rocket launchers. "But you will not mind if I defeat it, right?"

The corner of my mouth lifts a bit at the joke. As usual, her confidence and courage never waver. That's why she's the comrade I've always depended on when I was in a pinch.

"Yeah." I nodded. "Give him hell, Aigis!"

In response, Aigis shot a rocket upwards towards the ceiling a short distance behind her, bringing down chunks of debris and blocking the hallway completely.

"Go!" I shout to Haruhi and Hisao. I'm hoping all that track work with Hisao did with Emi will prove to be useful here.

Without a moment's hesitation, I sprint towards the opposing hallway. Haruhi and Hisao were reluctant to leave since they didn't want to leave Aigis alone with the Tyrant. But they soon followed behind me. As the sounds of gunfire began echoing behind me, I make a wish with all my heart.

Please make it out alright, Aigis!

**To be continued…**


	16. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 α: Unrestrained Might (Kyon)**

"Koizumi…" I stared at Koizumi's lifeless corpse. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't even process the fact that he was dead. What did I feel in that moment? Regret? Grief? Sorrow? My brain feels so scrambled I can't tell.

"You killed Rothcol…" Stella stepped towards Koizumi's killer, who was still pinned to a nearby concrete wall by a cannonball sized rock. Stella seemed to be repressing her anger. And in the next instant, her cannon transformed into a Gatling gun.

"The enemy of my friend…" The gun's barrels start whirling. "…IS MY ENEMY!" Stella screamed in fury and unleashed bullet hell upon Rivalea. The barrage atomized the wall, and presumably Rivalea, to dust in the blink of an eye.

As the dust was settling though…

"Is that the first time you've seen someone precious to you die?" A mocking voice taunts us. "You better get used to it soon, morons. That's what it means to fight. You couldn't even begin to understand…" Rivalea emerged from the dust cloud, completely unscathed. "But then again, I guess the rules of this world are convenient for those who don't want people to actually die."

She raises her right hand and the sword that killed Koizumi reacted. Retracting its blade as if responding to an order, the hilt flew to Rivalea allowing her to reclaim it with ease.

"You worthless little…" I clenched my hands into fists. I was seeing red. It doesn't matter if my strength isn't enough to take her down. I _want_ to make her pay.

Rivalea put away the sword and drew her firearms again. "If you still refuse to answer me, your suffering will continue until you all break."

"_You dare demand that we answer you?" _An eerie threatening voice turned Rivalea's oppressive glare into panicked surprise.

With good reason too, since I noticed my surroundings were shaking and blistering heat radiated through the air. Pillars of fire were erupting from the ground. When I looked around, standing behind me was a towering beast covered in scorching flames. It looked like a Minotaur with large bat wings.

"Bastard…" Rivalea kept one gun on me and aimed the other at the newcomer. "I forgot about you. I thought getting rid of that little girl would be enough."

"_You are a pathetic fool. Did you really believe that she would fall so easily?" _

The fire is overpowering…what is this?

"You should get down and cover your ears. This will be loud."

I noticed just then, Shana was standing just in front of the blazing Minotaur creature. I guess that means that they're partners or something. Sort of hard to believe that she was…wait hang on. I remember this: that image that appeared to me during the convention. Shana looked exactly like she did in that vision back then. Then, could that mean that I was seeing things that had yet to pass?

"Feh." Rivalea put away her weapons. "Killing a Crimson Lord would waste too much energy." She placed one hand beside her left ear, as if talking into a headset microphone. "Isis, do you hear me? I need to get off the grid, **now**. We're going to have to look for him elsewhere."

I couldn't tell who she was talking to but no sooner did she say that, in a flash of white light, Rivalea soars above us and shoots off into the distance. When I realized what happened she had already disappeared.

"Damn it!" I smash my fist into the ground in front of me. A shockwave tears open the road where I hit it. Stella ran over to Koizumi as did I. I flipped Koizumi onto his back. "Koizumi…why?"

Of course Koizumi doesn't answer. Only the ghost of his grim, determined expression is etched on his face. But I couldn't help it. Of all the things that I hadn't anticipated today, this was the one that hit me the hardest, like a punch in the chest that knocks the wind out of you. In silence, Ruby knelt down beside Koizumi, and brought her hand gently over his face. She closed his eyes, so that Koizumi's expression would be more peaceful in rest.

Shana exhales deeply. The Minotaur behind her fades away with the fire.

"Shana…!" Yuji had regained consciousness as well. He staggered over to where Shana was.

"Yuji?! What about your wounds?"

Yuji lifted his shirt to reveal several burn marks. "I used fire to sear the wounds closed." He laughed breathlessly. "The pain was so intense I almost passed out."

"Why would you do that?!" Shana was aghast. "That's beyond reckless!"

"There wasn't a choice! If I wanted to help you out-"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses! You could've died, idiot!"

"…But Koizumi did die." I mutter. Their little argument off to the side really, really pisses me off.

"Kyon, you don't need to be angry at them." Ruby tried to calm me down, but she flinched and pulled away when I glared at her.

"Then who the hell should I be angry at?!" Unintentionally I find myself shouting at Ruby. "Am I supposed to be angry at the bitch that killed him? Well she turned tail and ran. We can't even chase her down now!"

"Kyon." Stella grabs my arm. "Why are you being so mean to your friends?"

"Ah…" I stopped dead in my tracks like had a bucket of ice water thrown over me.

When I thought about it, Stella was furious at what happened, but she didn't take it out on her companions. But me on the other hand, I couldn't contain it. I felt a really strong urge to smash something into a thousand tiny pieces, and it got the better of me.

"I'm sorry, Ruby." I hung my head. "I didn't mean to lose my temper at you, I just-"

"No, no, I know how you feel. You're right to be mad at me." Ruby sighs regretfully, near tears. "If I hadn't been injured, he wouldn't have had to protect us like that."

Shana stepped closer and glanced at Koizumi, who I was holding in my arms. She wore a pained expression. "He didn't make it, huh?"

"Yeah…" I bite down on my lip. Was there really nothing I could've done? I dig deep into my memories of the fight. If there was just one thing I could've done better, things might've not turned out this way.

"Stella, you wouldn't happen to have a power that could bring him back, would you?" I looked despondently into Stella's eyes.

"My abilities only work on myself." Stella shook her head sadly. Of course, if she could've brought Koizumi back she would've done it already.

"Wait, that person before." Yuji remembered something. "Didn't she say something about the rules of this world?"

I do recall her saying something…something about how this world's rules are convenient for those who don't want people to actually die?

"But that doesn't make any sense at all. It isn't as if Koizumi's coming back to life right now."

Just as I say that though, Koizumi's body started glowing brightly with a white light.

"What…?" It was as if I had said some magic words.

Before my eyes, Koizumi's body vanishes slowly, dissolving into little tiny blobs of light which in turn faded into nothingness.

"What the hell?!" I wasn't sure how to react to that.

"What was that?" Stella is awed by what just happened. I bet she's seen her fair share of dead bodies, and they probably didn't dissolve into light.

Before I could say anything in response, a green hand shot out from the ground and grabbed me.

"Son of a-!" I tried to yell before I was dragged underground. Of course, instead of me face-planting into bed rock, I'm somewhere else.

Pushing off the ground that I had landed on, I rose unsteadily to my feet. I hate this stupid hand thing that keeps showing up.

I take a moment to examine my surroundings. I'm on the rooftop of an apartment. Judging from the English on the signs I could see, I was still somewhere in America. Of course the most distinguishing feature here was that the buildings didn't look like something out of an apocalyptic future. This looked like the 1990s America that I see in movies every now and then. The other more distinct problem is that there's fire and smoke coming from the streets. I move closer to the edge of the rooftop, and I could see something was happening on the street below me. There's a crowd of people walking towards a line of police cars. Thing is, they didn't look like normal people. They were missing chunks of their body, as if something had taken bites out of them. I was looking at something straight out of a horror movie. As I move my gaze to the police car line, I saw someone I recognized. The female officer standing in the middle of the line, shouting orders to the other officers was surely…

"Haruhi!" I cry out her name, shocked. She's not wearing her hairband right now, but that was definitely her. She couldn't hear me from where I am standing. But if I know horror movies well enough, then we're heading straight for disaster!

I need to haul ass and get down there. But as I started running towards the stairway, I realized that my suit had vanished. Instead of the suit, I now wore a red cloak.

I search my mind, trying to find the memories that I gained while I had the suit. I can't recall any of it now. In fact, I don't even seem to have extra memories right now. All I know is...Projection Magic? Either way, it seems something new has been thrust onto me again. I better figure this out quickly.

Instinctively knowing that I could make the jump, I change directions and leaped from the rooftop onto the building next to it. I look for the next closest building after landing. Taking the stairs would take too long. I don't know what happened to everyone who was with me, but this isn't the time to worry about that. I couldn't save Koizumi, and I already deeply regret it. I **have **to save Haruhi, no matter the cost!

…..

**Chapter 14 β: Equivalent Exchange (Nara Hishikawa)**

How long have we been running now? I can't hear the gunshots anymore. We weaved through the laboratory following an escape route that Ellie set up. It was impromptu, so we ran into several locked reinforced blast doors and had to make detours.

"Hisao! How are you holding up?" Even though my lungs and legs scream at me to stop, I can't afford to ease my pace. In the worst case scenario, Aigis is already...

"Just fine actually! I'm surprised myself, since normally my condition would've started acting up by now!"

Indeed, it was quite strange. Even slightly strenuous exercise would probably debilitate Hisao. And yet he's been keeping pace, no, he's actually running faster than me! He isn't even breathing hard.

As we turn the corner though.

"Damn it, another dead end! "Ellie, we have to reroute again." We came upon yet another blast door. I check behind us to make sure there aren't any zombies or other unspeakable horror tailing us.

"_This was the last possible escape route I could manage. There are no alternatives now."_ Ellie's cheerful was unwavering even now, but she knows l how dire our situation was.

"You've got to be kidding me…" I thrust Kanshou towards the door in exasperation. Of course, the door doesn't budge and the reaction force shoots numbing pain into my entire arm. I knew it to be a futile effort, but this whole situation was frustrating me beyond therapy.

"Hang on. Let me try something." Surprisingly enough, Haruhi is the one who makes a move. She examines the key card slot for the blast door, and then looks to an adjacent grey box. "This might take a few seconds…" She does something to the box which pops it open, revealing several wires, each a different colour.

"Wait, you're not trying to hack the key card reader, are you?" Hisao was skeptical as he tried to make sense of the arrangement of the wires. I bet even he couldn't figure out what was connected to what.

I doubt Haruhi would be the kind that'd try a movie stunt right now though. She's probably seeing something that we're not.

"No, that wasn't the plan." Haruhi nodded confidently upon confirming what she was looking for. She made some rapid movements with her hands, like weaving some kind of sign. The moment she finishes her hand movements, Haruhi's right hand lit up with a bluish-white glow.

Instantly, electrical energy gathered in Haruhi's hand. The crackling of electricity caused me to instinctively recoil. But wait, I recognize this technique.

"No way, is that…one of my modules?" I wondered aloud. It was one of the six that I always had with me, the ninjutsu module that I used for clandestine operations.

"Lightning Blade!" Haruhi thrust her hand into the grey box, completely destroying its contents. With the power being cut the lights in the ceiling flicker briefly and burn out, leaving us in darkness. The blast door in front of us opens without any further resistance.

Hisao and I exchanged confused glances. "What the hell was that?" We both exclaim almost simultaneously.

"Well, that worked better than I expected." Haruhi brushed pieces of metal and wire insulation off of her arm. "It did seem like the kind of door that would deactivate in the case of power loss."

I stand dazed for a moment. "How in the world did you do that?"

Haruhi shrugged. It seemed as though even she was puzzled by what happened. "It's difficult to explain. As we were running away I suddenly knew how to use… ninjutusu? Yeah I think that's what it's called. It felt like I had forgotten how to use it until now, rather than I just learned it."

There's no doubt in my mind now. The experience she describes completely matches with the sensation you should feel when equipping a module.

"Would it surprise you to know that you appeared to have acquired some of my powers?" I smile smugly. Things are suddenly looking good for us.

"Really?" Haruhi scrutinized her hand cautiouslys. "Maybe it's better if I returned that power to you. You'd know how to use it better than I do."

"_I did not expect the rest of your modules to get dispersed in such a manner. She has Module #4 for certain though, so I can facilitate a transfer process."_ Ellie brought up a visual interface for us, detailing how the transfer would work.

I snicker in amusement. "No, that won't be necessary for now Ellie." I shut off the interface manually. "I copy my power from others. That includes their knowledge and experience as well, so anyone can just pick up and use a module. It'd be better if Haruhi used it for self defense."

Each module contains experience and knowledge from the true owner of the power. And in the case of mixing parts of several powers together, bits and pieces from each owner relevant to the copied power is granted as well. Don't ask me how that works. I'm a user, not a scientist.

"Are you sure?" Haruhi was still concerned. "You definitely need it more than I do."

"I'm positive. It's better to have more people who can fight in case we run into trouble." I think back to how much we depended on Aigis to protect us. Without her, we're much more vulnerable. Even a Crimson Head zombie could tear all three of us to shreds.

"Besides, I'm far more curious as to how she's even using my module." I shake my head. There's no point in trying to figure that out when I don't even understand the mechanics of the Reality Projection System.

"_I believe it is in the same way Midori does. Do you remember how you implanted a module into her? I think the mechanism is similar."_

"Like Midori huh? So if that's the case, where are my other modules?"

"_Scanning…" _Ellie began analyzing. After a few seconds, another visual interface appears.

"_Report:_

_Module 1: Yamato and Devil Trigger_

_Status: Contained by Shizune __Hakamichi._

_Module 2: Projection Magic and Unlimited Blade Works_

_Status: Partially contained by Nara Hishikawa, mostly contained by Kyon._

_Module 3: Augmented Reaction Suit_

_Status: Was previously contained by Kyon, status currently unknown. _

_Module 4: Ninjutsu_

_Status: Contained by Haruhi Fujioka._

_Module 5: Church Executor _

_Status: Contained by Hisao Nakai._

_Module 6: Hidden Blade Assassin_

_Status: Status currently unknown._

_End of report."_

Hmm…well two things.

First: It is very, very unfortunate that my favourite module had to end up with Shizune. I pray that my favourite weapon does not suffer while under her tyrannical - I mean benevolent rule. God knows what she'd do with a good weapon. Secondly, Hisao having the Church Executor Module explains a lot. The guy I copied from could run like 60 kilometers an hour without even breaking a sweat. I'm not even sure if he was really human.

"Gragh!" Something tackled me to the ground. As my head smacks the floor, my vision blurs and I feel a sharp pain like being hit on the head with a frying pan. Despite my disorientation, I reach towards my attacker frantically. It was a zombie on top of me! It lets out a snarl like a beast and brings its snapping jaws down on my face.

"Fuck! Get this thing off of me!" I push it back with all of my might, but its blood-stained maw inch closer to me.

Hisao was the first one to react. With a fluid motion, he seized the zombie by its head and pulled it off of me. As the zombie staggered backwards, Hisao takes a martial arts stance. With a sharp intake of breath, he throws two punches in rapid succession. The first one connects with the zombie's chin. The creature's skull is shattered and its brain is obliterated. The second is driven into the zombie's chest. I hear a loud crunch. The headless body is blown away as if struck by a truck moving at highway speed. The body collides with the wall behind it, splattering sickeningly into bloody pieces.

Hisao exhales, looking momentarily at the remains of the creature before he offered his hand to help me up. "Are you okay?"

"That was quite a scare." Haruhi quickly started looking around for any more surprise attackers. I bet it's hard to see after you destroyed our light source, eh?

I stare at his hand, and then laugh sheepishly. "I never thought the day would come where I'd see a badass Hisao completely destroying someone with nothing but his fists…" I gratefully take his hand.

Hisao pulls me up to my feet and gives me a friendly punch in the gut. "So this is what a day in your life is like huh? I could get used to this. Maybe you ought to try a day in my life to make it fair."

I shake my head vehemently. "And that'd mean I'd have to deal with your problems and your girlfriend? You can kiss my ass, dirtbag." It sounds like a fate far worse than death to me. I don't know how to deal with Shizune, and I'd like to stay as far away from her as humanly possible.

Hisao laughs in sadistic amusement, which was definitely out of character for him. "At least you aren't living next door to Kenji."

"Touche…" I couldn't help but nod in agreement. Hisao did tell me about this one time where Kenji walked up to him ass naked, asking to borrow money or something.

"Hey! I think we should get moving." Haruhi brought out attention to the zombies coming at us from beyond the blast door.

"This'll be nasty without any light." I muttered as if speaking to myself. Of course, I'm actually subtly hinting something to Haruhi.

"…Right." She weaves a few hand signs again. "Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She inhales, and then expels a massive fireball from her mouth.

The intense blaze is like a burning hell-fire for anything caught it in. And just as anticipated, the fireball is enough to turn all the zombies shuffling towards us into walking torches.

"Okay, now what?" Haruhi was ready to launch another fireball, but I don't think that'll be necessary.

"Catch." I toss Kanshou and Bakuya to Hisao.

Confirming that he understood my intentions by nodding, Hisao takes the twin swords and dashes towards the group of zombies. With great speed, Hisao darts and weaves through them with ease, decapitating each zombie with cold efficiency.

I whistle. "All calculated. Uh-huh." I nodded to affirm my statement.

"Whew." Hisao casually steps over the burning corpses and return the twin swords to me. "For the record, before this day, I had no clue how to use sword or martial arts."

I give him a knowing smile. "But of course. That's the Reality Projection System does. Give power to those with nothing."

"Anyway." Haruhi was restless. "Can we move to somewhere with lighting? This is making me uneasy."

"Yeah, sure thing. Ellie, our route?"

"_Of course. Display Augmented Reality Navigators."_

The arrows and objective marker reappear. A thought that I tried to push away resurfaces as that happens: I know Ellie can tell if Aigis is still alive or not. I had resisted the urge to ask, but now I wanted to know more than ever.

"By the way Ellie, is Aigis…?"

"_She's still trying her best for your sake. Just concentrate on escaping."_

I grit my teeth, and try to hold back my tears. Aigis is no match for that Tyrant. That was a fact I knew before I asked her to fight it. She knew that she wouldn't live. Even so, I couldn't help but feel deep sorrow and regret. I exhale slowly, then resume running. "Let's go."

Hisao runs directly beside me, while Haruhi is slightly behind us to covers our flank. There's still quite-a-ways to go before we reach the connection point. But when we do, I'll fix everything. And then…once I find whoever did this, I will bring them to justice in my own personal way.

**Chapter 14 γ: Resolve (Aigis)**

"You are quite tenacious." I felt the slightest amount of surprise.

Never had I encountered a foe such as this one. I have expended most of my bullets and all of my rockets already, and yet this creature still stands. Its outerwear isn't significantly damaged, indicating it is likely made from a bullet-proof, fire-proof, and explosion-proof material. There is no record of such material existing in any of my archives. In addition, fighting in such a narrow hallway has done nothing to improve my odds of winning.

The enemy roared ferociously and charged at me. One of its arms is raised, ready to attack me.

I duck and dash towards my right side, narrowly avoiding the crushing blow that was meant for me. In the place where I was just standing there is a fissure. Taking this opening, I jump onto the back of the enemy and aim the gun built into my right hand at its face. From what I can tell, it can only be injured through trauma to the head. I fire some of my bullets.

The creature clutches its face with one hand and uses its other to grab my arm.

"!"

In the next moment I was pinned to the wall by the enemy. Its hand grips my neck and constricts me. This enemy possesses strength far beyond anything I've recorded. Though I am not harmed in the same way a normal person would be, I could hear the metal in my armour starting to buckle from strain.

I kick my left leg up and fire my thruster into its body, knocking it back and staggering it. It releases me, but it recovers quickly. It brings both of its hands together overhead and slams it down on me. I cannot dodge it in time. I brace myself by bending my legs and hold my arms above me in an X. I block the hit, but the impact is very severe. The plating on my arms fractures in several areas, and my back is pressed against the wall.

"Orgia Drive Activated!"

I push back the enemy, and retaliate with an attack of my own. Two strong strikes with my arms into the enemy's chest causes him to stumble. I activate my thrusters and deliver a high-kick. The enemy falls on his back, giving me the opportunity to commence an all-out attack.

I jump into its chest and took aim. I use the bullets remaining in my 7th Gen Vulcan Cannon, firing them all at the enemy's face.

The bullets burrow deep into the enemy's head. But it does not kill it. It lets out something akin to a scream in pain. Seizing me by my legs it throws me off of its chest. I use my thrusters to aid in my landing, and I regain my balance. As I look up, the creature stood back up, seemingly unhurt.

I am out of bullets now. "I am overheating…" I am forced to disengage Orgia Mode. This is not good!

A heavy overhead punch sends me flying backwards. I crash into rubble, which disorients me. I rise unsteadily to my feet, only to receive another strike to my side. I am blown through the rubble I had used to seal the hallway. I roll to a stop, as the enemy steps closer to me, each heavy footstep causing the ground to rumble.

"I…can't lose here…" I had suffered severe damage. My left leg was no longer functional. My system is shutting down from critical damage sustained. I try propping myself up using my arms.

A kick from the enemy hits my chest. I fly backwards again, until I am forcibly stopped by another wall.

I am left in a slouched sitting position. Pieces of my armour were scattered about the ground. The enemy stepped slowly towards me. I tried to stand again, but with my left leg disabled, my stance is unsteady. I could lose balance at any moment.

"I'm sorry…everyone…" I murmur softly. I regret, not my termination, but my inability to stop this enemy. As soon as I shutdown, it will resume pursuit of Hishikawa-san.

A thought pushed its way into my mind just then. I think of my sister, who was waiting for me back home. I think of the boy I had tried and failed to protect. What if they were in my place right now? Would they simply accept their defeat and give up?

"No…" I force myself to stand properly, shifting my weight onto my right leg. "I will not yield."

I have no weapons left on me to use. However, there is one thing that I have not attempted yet.

"Initiating summon sequence." I activate my built-in Evoker, a device used to summon my Persona. A Persona is a manifestation of my inner self. This isn't my own reality, but there are no alternatives. If this does not work, I will simply fight with my body until I no longer function.

"This is a sign of my determination." I brace myself for the final confrontation. In response, the enemy quickens its pace and charges at me.

"Come forth, Persona!" I shout.

The enemy's charge is halted immediately. In its way is a female warrior, adorned with a Greek Battle Helmet and white robes. She wields a luminous spear in her right hand, and her front is protected by a giant levitating circular shield. The shield is like an unmovable wall, and the enemy struggles in vain against it.

It is my current Persona, Pallas Athena, that protects me. This is my only opening, my only chance to finish this fight. "Athena…Do it!"

Athena hurls her spear into the head of the enemy. It is knocked back slightly, which gives me enough time to make my move.

"Final sequence! Initiating Heritage Liberator Palladion!" I summon a version of original Persona, Palladion. It resembles a massive handgun three times my size, with the front sight replaced by a red plume. With a loud mechanical roar, energy began channelling into the "barrel" of my Persona. A massive orb of electrical energy is formed, ready to be fired.

"Maximum Charge…Fire!" The electrical energy is discharged as a beam aimed straight at the spear embedded into the enemy's head.

The beam resonates with the spear, increasing the intensity of the attack tenfold. A blinding blue light blasts through the enemy with a high pitched sound like a bird's cry. As the light fades, the enemy's smoking husk falls onto the ground with a dull thud. Its head has been completely destroyed, rendering it unable to fight.

Palladion fades away as my concentration breaks. I collapse to the ground.

I…won.

It was a miracle that I was able to use my Persona, and I do not understand why I was able to summon it. But I will not question that for now. My body and my system have been strained beyond their capacity from the fight. It would be best if I rested for now.

"Systems…are shutting down."

I feel relief welling up in my chest. For now, Hishikawa-san will be fine. After my system cools down and reboots, I'll go after him…

A shadow enters the corner of my vision. I felt someone patting my head gently before my consciousness fades.

"You did well, Aigis. Now take a good rest."

**To be continued…**


	17. Chapter 145

**Chapter 14.5: My Only Wish (Rivalea Fayanne)**

"Well, out of the five overlapping realities here, three more remain." I glanced behind me. The group of meddlesome kids were still there, looking dumbstruck. At least it doesn't seem like they're going to go out of their way to chase me.

"_So, where to next?"_ Isis asked me.

Isis is my assistant, the artificial intelligence whose full name is Intelligence and Surveillance Indexing Service. Ever since I started using the device called the Reality Projection System, this artificial intelligence has been my only companion and friend.

"We're just testing our luck really. Surprise me. Adjust speed for the temporal shift."

"_Roger that. Calculating…adjusting speed…"_ I accelerate sharply towards a building.

While it may seem like I'm just on a collision course with a window, the space directly above that is actually a portal that connects to another reality. Truthfully, I don't understand how this so called Overlaying part of the System works. But Isis did say that this was not supposed to happen as Overlayed realities should not be connected in such a manner.

"_I think you're going to like this one."_ Isis sounded excited for some reason.

I phase through the portal and descend onto solid ground. I look around.

"Where in the hell…?" Those were the first words to escape my lips.

a flat plain covered in an inch of water stretches out around me. Overhead are large arching beams of neon green light. In front of me is a large throne flanked by shell-like structure. In the distance, I spot a volcano, and the far edge of the water plain meets with obsidian-coloured rocky terrain.

"Isis…how in any way could I possibly derive joy from this?" There's nothing here. It's empty to the point where it creates an uncomfortably feeling in my chest.

"_Well you said to surprise you. Doesn't this seem like the perfect place for a rest?"_

*snap*. What might that be you ask? The sound of my patience snapping in half.

"I do not have time to rest!" I shout. "We need this Nara Hishikawa's data so we can find the creator of the System! How many times do I have to scream that at you before you get it?!"

"_With all due respect Riv, admit it, you're exhausted from that fight just now. I'm not telling you to stop now. Just take a rest, okay? I'm not the biggest fan of seeing you getting pummelled into the ground just because you're exhausted."_ Though he speaks in a whimsical tone, Isis does convey genuine concern for me.

My expression softens and I sigh. Always watching out for me, huh? Well, I can't say I don't appreciate that. I guess I'll listen to him this time.

"Okay, fine." I rolled my eyes.

I walk towards the throne and plop down on it. It's cold…but the throne is soft.

"_Being here sort of reminds of how we first met."_

Someone walks up next to me. I look towards my right, and I see a tall young man in a suit with a handsome face, hazel coloured eyes and light brown hair.

"Why are you manifesting your physical form, Isis?" I dismiss him with a sour look.

"Well, I just figured you'd prefer more uh…tangible company." Isis took a seat beside me. It's surprising, but the throne can fit two people with room to spare.

"More importantly." I take a hair tie from the utility belt of my exo-skeleton and start tying my hair into a pony tail. "Why are you bringing up the past now?"

Isis wraps his arm around my shoulder. "Back when we first met, it was in a place just like this. I couldn't help but think of how far we've come since then. How long has it been? Although no time passes in your reality, it has been nearly seven years right?"

Seven years. I let out a dry laugh. If I count back from my last birthday I remember celebrating in my reality... "I've been in here that long huh? Well if anyone was still alive back home, I doubt they'd mind a 17 year old in a 10 year old's body. They'd just say I'm mature for my age."

Isis smiled shrewdly at my comment. "But you still have the mental age and emotional capacity of a 12 year old."

"Thanks Isis." I bring my head down on his head like a hammer with an evil smile. "You can go to hell too."

"My point exactly." Isis laughs heartily.

I find myself laughing gently as well. Huh, it really feels like it's been a long time since I've last felt any measure of joy. But to this day I have not felt happy like I did back as a child.

"Seven years have passed." I look to the distant gray sky while reminiscing. It's fitting for a story about such a sombre past. "But everything that happened that day is as clear to me as if it happened yesterday."

…

The past might be distant, but I remember the important bits. I was a normal girl. I had friends, family, and a bright future ahead of me. Earliest I recall now was the third grade. People called me a genius because of how fast I could solve mathematical problems. I was showered with praise at every contest I participated in, and everyone in my school knew who I was. I'm not lying when I say those are the most vivid memories I have. It's because during that time I felt like I belonged somewhere, I felt like I had a purpose to live.

Despite my prowess at mathematics, my true passion was books. I'd read about all sorts of things, and I absolutely adored stories about superheroes. Books were like a portal to another world. Every time I read a superhero story, my heart would flutter when they defeat evil and save innocent people. I felt intrinsic beauty in that way of living. I thought, wouldn't it be totally cool if I could live that way? I loved how people would praise me whenever I did mathematics. I fantasied that by becoming a superhero, I could be praised by people from all around the world.

Of course, I was naïve and idealistic. Just like how any child who had yet to experience the harsh cruelty of the real world. I sincerely wished that I could be like the heroes I admired. When I was 10 years old, just days after my 10th birthday actually, an ironic twist of fate happened. I was given the chance to be the superhero I always wanted to be. But at that time, I did not have the neither the capacity nor ability. I was just a regular girl.

What happened that day? It was an ordinary Sunday. I'm with my family, eating a picnic in a park. That's when it happened. The most horrific thing that's ever befallen me, the event that left my soul permanently scarred. On a perfectly sunny day, the light was instantly blotted out by dark clouds. With loud rolls of thunder, a rift of some sort opened in the sky. From the rift, a dark, malevolent creature covered with a shadow-like veil crawled out. With a roar of fury like a beast, it dropped from the clouds and smashed down onto the roof of the highest skyscraper in the city. With a flash of purple light, a massive explosion happened.

With earth-shattering force, the explosion tore apart the city. My little brother hid his face in the folds of my mother's dress. My mother's eyes were wide with horror and despair. My father was the only one who was not frozen by fear, and in desperation he pulled our family behind a nearby statue. Needless to say, it did not do much. All I remember from that point was flying through the air like I was in a rollercoaster that was out of control. But when I finally regained my senses, everything I had ever known had been obliterated. The city I lived in, my mother, father, and my little brother…all of them were blasted into nothingness and cast to the winds.

All that was left were ruins of a once great city, and as if death and destruction were its only purpose, the creature retreated back into the rift from whence it came. I was left alone in an empty city. I could do nothing but cry.

Why? Why? Why? I kept asking. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. We were just supposed to have a regular picnic. I was supposed to go to school the next day and greet everyone. I was supposed to prepare for a math contest I had in five days. But now all of that was reduced to ashes by some…**thing**…that came out of nowhere.

Where was the superhero I always looked up to at that instant? Nowhere of course. Superheroes don't exist, after all. They're just something we idolize because we can never perform the great feats that they can. A regular person could never become someone who stops world ending crises. It just isn't possible. I fell into deep despair when I realized in that moment. No matter how much I wanted to be a superhero, even when I was needed the most. My little brother always told me how glad he was to have a cool big sister like me. But I couldn't even protect him. I was pathetic and useless.

I started wandering around through the wreckage of the city, looking for anyone who was still alive. But no matter how far I walked, I couldn't find another person. I walked into an electronics store. There was no power to anything. I tried TVs, telephones, computers. Everything was broken. I sobbed more intensely and was about to walk out of the store. But I saw out of the corner of my eye a single blinking light at the back of the store. I approached the source of the light, and to my surprise, there was a pod of some kind. It was big enough to fit a person, and it seemed like those kind of simulators you'd see at the arcades. I didn't know what else to do, so I entered it. My mind and body were numb, and I was hoping that it was all just a bad dream.

When I got into the pod, the cover shut down on top of me. The darkness scared me to the point of screaming and wetting myself, but suddenly I was transported to a space of pure white. Then, I heard a voice for the first time in an hour.

"Hello there. Don't be scared, you're safe here with me. I am Isis, short for Intelligence and Surveillance Indexing Service. It seems like you're my new master now."

A warm, kind hand gently wiped the tears away from my eyes. I looked up into the hazel-coloured eyes of the young man who was suddenly standing before me. I stood shocked for a moment, before I hugged him by the waist tightly and cried harder than ever. I was overjoyed to have finally found someone else.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry like that. You have a cute face you know? It'd be a waste if you looked so sad." Isis patted my head. His smile was gently, reassuring, and comforting. Just like my father's.

…..

Isis told me that I was the only person who survived. He didn't know where he came from or how he was made, but since he accepted me as his new master, he wanted to help me. I asked how I could save everyone. Isis told me that the Reality Projection System, which I had inadvertently found, could provide me with the means to stop supernatural enemies. He said that the one catch is that I can never use my powers in my own reality. But he also said that we could find the person who made the System to send me back in time with powers like that of a superhero. I was fuelled by my regret. I always wanted to be a superhero, and now I had a chance to save my family and everyone else who was killed so unjustly.

Isis decided it was best that I continued my education, so he found a reality where I could continue a semblance of normal life. Of course, I felt no joy. It wasn't my own world. I tried to make friends with the new people I met, but I did not feel the same kind of connection I had with my friends from before. Being in this new reality was hard for me. It felt like a dream, as if the people there weren't real. I never made any close friends during my time in school. But once I was at the age of entering high school, my patience finally expired. I demanded that Isis taught me how to use superpowers. By this time, I was no longer the naïve girl that lost everything. It was as if my heart had frozen. I became cold like steel, determined to achieve my goal as fast as I could. I resolved to destroy anything that got in my way. After all, no cost is too great for saving my family and millions of innocent lives. It was my only wish.

It's easy to guess what happened then. Isis took me from one reality to another, using the System to copy what abilities it could and turning them into modules. I remember the first time I ever used a module. It was a simple one, superhuman strength and the ability to fly. Just hovering in the air, I felt so liberated. My body felt light for the first time in years. I gained many abilities over time, and even discovered that I had the aptitude to use several modules at once, which greatly surprised Isis. He told me that a user should only be able to use one module, as using two or more places great physical strain on the user. I only felt more empowered. You could probably say I was intoxicated by my powers.

I longed for the day where I could use my abilities to annihilate the creature that had robbed me of my life. But that day was far away. Isis told me he had absolutely no leads on the System's creator. However Isis was able to detect the presence of other users, perhaps one of them had the data we were looking for. We would hunt down users and demand their data from them. According to Isis, surrendering data is the same thing as handing over your accumulated memories and modules from your time in the System. Obviously users weren't going to hand over their stuff without a fight. So I killed anyone who resisted. They were difficult opponents with their own set of powerful abilities. But no one could ever fight against the power of four modules at once, even if all copied abilities are weaker than the original. Eventually, I found it far easier just to kill them than to coerce them into surrendering.

Isis told me that users don't actually die. They just can't use the System on their end anymore. It was one life, just like reality. I had no regrets killing any of the users I met. To them, the System was like a video game they enjoyed as leisure. For me…it was my only salvation. I couldn't even feel pity for fools like that.

The user I am tracking right now, Nara Hishikawa, is a unique case. Isis told me that although he'd been monitoring Nara for a while, he recently discovered that when Nara disconnected from his System someone from another Reality had entered Nara's. Isis said that though he could not explain why, it is impossible for someone to bring back people into their own reality. Isis also took this time to explain that he recently discovered through observations that no terminal of the System can access the reality that any user resides in.

This was a big discovery for us, as it means that the person who followed Nara into his reality is not ordinary. In fact, it was possibly the lead to the System creator we were looking for. So it was going to be business as usual; I'd kill Nara and take his data. Then once I find the person who followed him into his reality, I'd interrogate that person for the information that I've searched for these last three years.

….

But now here we are. Because of the Overlaying function of the Reality Projection System, Isis and I are stranded. I've never used it before, so I don't understand how it works.

"So this Overlaying is the process of bringing several realities together and isolating it." I finish tying my hair in what I thought to be a perfect ponytail. "It's like inviting people to a party huh?"

"It's something like that." Isis drew a diagram onto an interface he summoned. "You know how if you cause a drastic change in a timeline, you create a temporary version of that timeline which disappears when you leave? Overlaying creates a reality that lasts as long as user wills it. It pulls people from their timelines and basically tosses them into a sandbox. The people who are pulled are frozen in time in their reality, so once Overlaying is dispersed they return to their timelines like nothing happened."

"Okay, so no one can actually die." I shrug, disappointed with the obvious information. "What's your point?"

"Well the point is that you shouldn't have to actually go from one reality to another. They should be harmonized and mixed together perfectly." Isis scratched his head in confusion. "There's another power at work here I suspect. Maybe it was a trap for us all along."

"Well, at your suggestion, I will take a quick nap. I'm borrowing your lap." I rest my head down quickly on his lap without giving him a chance to refuse.

Isis looks like he's about to say something, but he swallows it and chuckles. "As you wish, master."

"Don't call me master." I shudder involuntarily. "It's really creepy. You've pretty much raised me from when I was a kid. Just call me Riv like you always do."

"Haha, sure thing Riv. Now rest."

I close my eyes slowly. Isis's lap is warm and soft. I feel an indescribable feeling of security and comfort whenever I'm near him. It's almost like he's a second father to me.

As if reading my mind, Isis strokes my hair gently. "I can't replace your father Riv. But I'll do my best to make sure you're never alone."

A warm fuzzy feeling grips my heart. I smile softly, truly appreciative of the AI who has never left my side. "Thank you, Isis." I murmur.

A few moments later, I drift away into sleep.

** …**


	18. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 α: Broken Phantasm (Kyon)**

Damn it, I won't make it in time!

By the time I reached the rooftop adjacent to the line of police cars, the horde of undead had already overwhelmed the front defense line. The officers there screamed as they devoured. Those who were still alive fired their weapons wildly with horror and dread impairing their ability to think rationally. Haruhi was the only one who was still calm, shouting orders to aim for the head.

But that won't be enough. When I first saw the police line, there were some fifty polices officers there. Now, only thirteen remain. The undead horde has not thinned out. It'll only be mere seconds before they're all dead.

"Trace…on."

I project a black recurve bow in my left hand using my new knowledge of Projection Magic. Holding out my right hand, I focus my mind on the image of the weapon that could eliminate all of the undead in a single attack: The Helix Sword Caladbolg from Irish mythology. My new memories tell me that although it is a sword, it creates a distortion in space when fired as an arrow that penetrates any target. When charged with "magical energy", the weapon can be sacrificed for an attack with great destructive force. Sacrificing a weapon in such a way is impractical normally since the weapon is unable to be used again. But because this Projection Magic creates replicas, it is a deadly attack that can be used as long as I have enough "magical energy". I won't think too much into the mechanisms to this madness, since these abilities aren't mine. Right now, I'll think of it as the only chance I have at turning this situation around.

I am the bone of my sword.

I utter a phrase that I should not have known. As Caladbolg appears in my hand, it glows golden and then blue. It stretches to take the shape of an arrow. I nock the glowing arrow and take aim. I draw back the bowstring slowly.

The distance from the horde is about 30 meters. The explosion radius will be far greater than that. A misfire will kill everyone. Wind speed of 30 km/h eastward. Correction, at this distance wind speed will not alter trajectory greatly.

I adjust my aim towards the back of the horde, 40 meters away from the police line. I take in a breath and release the arrow.

With a vicious howling sound, Caladbolg blazes a bright blue trail in its wake. It flies forth swiftly, surpassing the speed of sound and striking into the ground behind the horde.

Everything starts shaking like an earthquake just hit. The arrow detonates like a nuclear warhead. It atomizes everything to dust indiscriminately. The zombies near the police line are sent flying, along with several of the police cars. The cars spiral out of control in the air before smashing into the nearby buildings or falling to the ground with a heavy impact. The police officers ducked down fast enough to avoid being hit.

"What was that?" One of the officers asked Haruhi. "Did our backup get here already?"

"I…don't know." Haruhi was dumbfounded momentarily but quickly regained her composure. With a stern expression, she aimed her firearm at the zombies remaining. "Don't break formation! I don't know what's going on here, but we'll hold this line no matter what!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Roger!"

The officers began firing at the still rather large group of zombies left. I quickly project some regular arrows. It'd be best if I helped them out with that. I'm not going to lie. This Projection Magic stuff does make me feel like a badass. I should act on it while I have the chance. Every single one of these arrows will be a headshot.

…..

I re-examine the road. Corpses with arrows in their heads littered the pavement. No more targets remained.

I sigh in relief and allow the bow in my hand to dissipate into nothingness. But the moment I do so, I hear a low-pitched whirling sound. I look up to the sky and see a helicopter carrying several giant canisters under it.

"Supplies?" I wonder aloud.

The helicopter hovers over the police and dispenses one of the canisters.

"Take cover!" Haruhi gave the order to disperse from the police line.

The canister smashes into the police cars with great force. If anyone had remained there they'd be dead from the impact.

"Tch." I quickly bring out my bow again. I felt a foreign emotion, and my mind tells me that if I don't take down that helicopter more people would die. It is my sworn duty to protect others.

"Hrunting." I project a different weapon this time: Hrunting, the Hound of the Red Plains. Once fired, it turns into a magical bullet ten times the speed of sound. It takes the most direct path to its target, and it will continue to pursue the target, even if parried, repulsed, or avoided, as long as the shooter keeps aiming at them.

I waste no time in firing the weapon at the cockpit of the helicopter. Hrunting pierces through the metal armour of the helicopter and ferociously tears away a giant chunk of the cockpit. The pilot was killed nearly instantly as the weapon bisected him. The now pilotless machine spins uncontrollably flames and crashes into a nearby building, exploding with a spectacular flash of light and a thundering boom.

But as soon as the arrow as fired, I was left in shock. Did I just kill another person without hesitation in cold-blood? It was as though a supernatural force compelled me to kill that pilot.

I fall onto my knees. I press one hand to my face and curse under my breath.

No, this is wrong. I would never…I couldn't have! There's no way that I could've done something like that without a second thought!

Something's wrong. This wasn't me. This urge to sacrifice someone else to save more people…It isn't my own. Could I be possessed?

The canister that dropped from the helicopter opens with a blast of compressed air. From inside, a giant wearing a green trench coat stepped out. It was a non-human entity for certain.

Upon seeing the confused police officers, the giant charged forward and smashes one of the officers with its fist. The officer flies backwards into a lamppost and then collapses. He was dead almost instantly. That must've pulverized his internal organs.

"Open fire!" Haruhi rallied her subordinates in a hurry.

The remaining officers fired what remaining bullets they had. The giant shrugged off the deadly projectiles as if they were peas, and proceeded to attack. Some officers were sent flying away with a strike. The giant seized and crushed others with both hands. Eventually, only Haruhi and one other officer were left.

"No way…" Haruhi stood frozen in fear, literally staring death in the face.

"Ma'am…" The other officer was backing away slowly from the giant. "We're going to die if we don't get out of here!"

"But the line…" Haruhi started backing away too. "If we abandon this position we won't be able to evacuate the civilians."

"We won't be able to evacuate them if we're dead either!" The officer shouts hysterically. "We need to shake this thing off!"

I'm still reeling from shock. Only five seconds or so had passed. Yet my inability to act resulted in almost everyone dying. Shit!

I stand up straight again. I project Hrunting again. Hastily, I fire a shot at the giant to slow him.

The arrow passes through the giant's back and out of his chest, leaving a grapefruit sized hole. The giant stumbles from the impact, but it does not die. It turns towards me, the source of the arrow. I'll have to give up the high ground if I'm going to buy Haruhi time to run.

I jump from the rooftop down onto the road. I stare directly at the giant creature, and silently nock another Hrunting to my bow.

"Kyon?!" Haruhi gasped in surprised. "What are you doing here? Get away from here!"

I can't do that. You're the one who needs to escape. I raise the bow and aim it at the giant.

"Kyon, you're going to die, you idiot!" Haruhi pleaded with a look of desperation. "Just go!"

I glance at the other officer. Our eyes meet. He nods at me, then grabs Haruhi by the arm and took off in the other direction.

"Let me go! That's an order!" Haruhi tried to break free, but the officer kept his grip.

"That's an order I can't obey. We're getting out of here." The officer hastily retreats and doesn't look back. Haruhi's protests are ignored, and her voice quickly recedes into the distance.

Now then, with Haruhi no longer in danger, I returned my focus to the foe in front of me.

I release the bowstring. Hrunting punctures through the giant's shoulder, causing it to stumble. Another giant hole is in its body. But all it does is stumble. It does not die. It does not even fall over. It roars at me in defiance. It is fully aware of me as a threat.

I smile in grim satisfaction. One more attack will end this creature. Since I don't have to fight it using a sword, this is an easy kill.

I project Caladbolg once more. The giant charges at me in response, but it's too late now. The distance between us is too great. I've already prepared my attack when the giant is five meters away. I kick off the ground and jump backwards. I'm about 10 meters in the air. It's time to let the final decisive attack do its work.

Caladbolg flies towards the giant, right into its chest. I'm still too close though. I'll be caught in the blast radius. Well, it couldn't be helped. I wanted to fire Caladbolg at the giant from the roof. But Haruhi was too close. I had to be close to get its attention so I wouldn't catch Haruhi with Caladbolg.

I gather magical energy as the arrow is about to strike. My bow disappears and I raise my right arm towards the giant.

"Rho Aias!"

Seven giant red petals form between me and the giant. This is Rho Aias: The Seven Rings that Cover the Fiery Heavens. A relic from the Trojan War, it is a Conception of the shield used by Ajax and the only shield capable of stopping the javelin of the Trojan hero Hector. It creates a force field between me and the explosion.

However, Caladbolg's power is not to be underestimated. The explosion will still strike me with the force of a nuke. In addition, Rho Aias is meant to protect against projectiles and not explosions. I brace myself.

The arrow strikes. The brilliant blue light preceding the explosion blinds me. My arm shakes violently as the force of the explosion reaches me.

"Argh…!" My arm feels an intense, overpowering pain. It feels as though it'll be ripped from my shoulder.

The petals shatter one by one as I'm thrown backwards by the explosion. My vision blurs, disorienting me. I feel a strong impact on my back as I'm stopped by a chair. I slid backwards briefly and then come to a stop. I regain my sense of equilibrium quickly, resulting in me sitting on the chair casually as if nothing had happened.

I shake my head at my own recklessness. "Good grief."

Not only am I possibly getting possessed and being coerced into killing others, now I'm doing stunts like something you'd see out of a shounen manga. Frankly it is amazing that I haven't suffered an emotional breakdown yet. I somehow feel quite calm right now, which is definitely not right.

As the smoke clears, where the giant stood, only a pile of ash remained. That wasn't too bad. I dislike the idea of being possessed, but it'd be nice if I could keep these powers. At least then Nagato wouldn't have to save me whenever I got into trouble.

"!"

I bolt out of the chair and rolled forward as I sensed an impending attack. I hear the chair behind me being crushed. Really, there is no rest for me. I don't think I've had even a moment to rest since I left that trailer back in San Francisco.

What startles me the most though is the thing that attacked me. It's familiar. I make out a North High Uniform, purple hair, eyes like liquid helium, reading glasses, and pale white skin the colour of porcelain. Nagato? Was that really her? I couldn't believe it. She attacked me.

She says something under her breath extremely fast. It's never a good sign for her opponent when she does that. I'm in deep trouble right now if I can't sort out this misunderstanding.

"Nagato, it's me!" I tried to raise my hands to surrender. If it can be helped, I don't want to fight her. "Don't you recognize me?"

She remains silent, with a hostile air about her. She removes her glasses and casts them aside.

"I don't want to hurt you Nagato." I project Caladbolg as a sword. I have to be ready to defend myself, even if it's against the person who has saved my life so many times.

My actions are impeded by my confusion. Nagato's eyes are lifeless, as if she's become a machine. The look on her face is frightening. It's as though she's angry, in the way you'd be if you met face to face with someone who killed the person you cherished the most.

Nagato, what happened while I was gone?

"Target confirmed." Nagato dashed towards me at a blistering pace. I almost didn't have time to react.

I bring up Caladbolg and intercept a strike aimed at my face. Nagato's fist struck the weapon, but as expected she suffered no injury from hitting it barehanded. I on the other hand, felt my arm twist at an unnatural angle. I wince at the pain it caused. Nagato isn't holding anything back against me. Normally such an attack would've killed me.

Nagato raises her other arm. The chairs behind her morph into thin bars with sharpened ends, and accelerate towards me like thrown spears.

Damn it, why does it have to be like this?

I project a generic sword in my other hand and jump back. Six spears, one aimed at each of my limbs, one for my chest, one for my head. I make the necessary adjustments and deflected two spears. The third and fourth I dodge by falling backwards and doing a crab stance. I transition into a handstand and backhand spring. The fifth spear misses me, but the final spear cuts into my right leg, causing me to lose my balance from pain.

I roll towards left side and use my left leg to support myself. Nagato had already moved in with two more vicious strikes to my midsection.

"Ngh!" I bring up my swords in front of my chest in an X. My arms contort painfully, like pieces of wood trying to stop a battering ram.

There's no way I can keep this up. From just these few attacks I already know that Nagato is infinitely more than a match for me. Moreover, I don't want to hurt her. I have to run.

I push Nagato back and jump from the ground onto the nearest rooftop, allowing the projected swords to dematerialize. Reaching the rooftop's edge, I kick off the ground and use the nearby power line to catapult myself forward. I land onto another roof far away from Nagato. But she jumps up after me, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. I grimace. This is going to be a hell of a chase.

But as she walks closer, I notice that Nagato's movements are erratic. Her limbs are shaking, as if she's bound, struggling against an external tormenter.

"Nagato!" I step towards her, and instantly another spear is stuck into the ground in front of me. It was definitely aimed at my heart originally, but somehow Nagato managed to redirect it at the last moment. At that moment, I caught a glimpse of Nagato's face. There are minute changes in her expression, most notably the determined look in her eyes as she resisting whatever influence was affecting her. Then Nagato's eyes then darkened and became lifeless again.

I exhale slowly. No words could express my relief right now. If someone else is controlling her, then I'll find a way to break that control. But for now, until I figure out how to do so, I have to run for my life.

"Nagato, hang on! I'll think of something!" I continued to run and bounced from one rooftop to another.

I glance behind me. Nagato wasn't lagging behind in the slightest. More spears were raining upon me like carpet fire. There are probably even more deadly attacks that she's holding back right now.

What rotten luck!

I weave left and right, dashing forward whenever I can to get out of the way of the spears. I have to find a way to help Nagato, but I don't even have time to plan when I'm narrowly avoiding death every second!

A spear pins my cloak to the rooftop I am on. Another one flies towards my head.

Oh shit…the spear is already filling my vision. I can't move my arms in time to stop it.

I close my eyes shut. Looks like this is how I'm going to die. Somehow, I'm accepting it easily. I surprised even myself on the verge of death. I still want to see Haruhi, Kozumi, and Miss Asahina. I still want to save Nagato. Knowing me, I wouldn't have given up until I was literally dead, and here I am accepting my fate.

…

But the end does not come. There is no sensation of my skull being pierced by the deadly projectile.

My eyelids open slowly, to find that a hand had stopped the spear. The hand grasped the spear firmly, with the spear's edge mere centimeters away from my nose.

"You must really be in a bind if Miss Nagato isn't here to save you."

A chill runs down my spine. It was a girl's voice. Someone who I had hoped I'd never see again in my life.

"It seems the tables have turned since last time. Hehe…" Her hair flutters gently with the wind as she casts aside the spear. Entering my field of vision, she turns to face me with a cheerful smile. I feel nothing but terror, while she acts as though we're old friends.

Why…? Why are you here?!

"Is that any way to greet someone who saved your life?"

Ryoko Asakura stood before me, wearing the North High Uniform, appearing just as she did when she nearly killed me. Nothing has changed about this murderous psychopath. And yet, she is the one who saved me from Nagato.

I feel really sick, like I'm about to puke my guts out. This is so wrong, so twisted. Why couldn't it be the other way around?

"Silly me, I know why you're upset. You would've preferred Nagato saving you from me, right?" Asakura giggles knowingly. It's as if she can read my mind. She then pulled out a knife from her uniform pocket. It's same weapon that she used to stab me. "I'm sorry, but I guess you're stuck with me. You'll get an explanation later."

Asakura turns her head towards Nagato. Her knife glistens sinisterly. She's ready to kill Nagato. "After all, I'm just following orders."

Asakura mutters something under her breath and the space around us distorts and warps, becoming a blurry mess of colours. Our new surroundings cause me to feel dizzy. This is almost exactly what happened the first time Asakura tried to kill me.

"I wonder…how long can I survive while protecting you, Kyon?" Asakura calmly raises her knife like she is about to throw it at Nagato. Without a word, Nagato raised her arm to create more spears. They're pointed at Asakura and me. Nagato's right hand glows white as well.

Shit! I hate this!

I pull out the spear pinning my cloak and project the black recurve bow along with Hrunting again. I don't know why Asakura is here. Even if this situation disgusts me, I need Asakura's help to defeat Nagato. If it means I'll get Nagato back to normal, fine. Still, just the thought of having to treat Asakura as an ally is repulsing.

"Fine, I'll have your help. But by no means does this make us friends, you psychotic bitch." It's one of the few times I'd be confident enough to insult Asakura like that. She'd have stabbed me through the throat before I'd even get the chance on any other occasion.

"How rude. I do intend to save your life, you know." Asakura was unfazed, smiling sweetly like always.

The spears shoot towards Asakura and me. Hrunting is fired by me. Asakura throws her knife at Nagato's head. Our attacks cross, starting the most painful battle of my life.

…

**Chapter 15 β: The Evoker (Nara)**

"Let there be light." I mutter angrily.

"_You're getting close."_ Ellie brings up two more navigation arrows for us to follow.

We've been groping our way through the dark corridors of the laboratory.

"You've been saying that for the last 10 minutes Ellie." I have to careful tread to avoid being taken by surprise. The hairs on my neck are standing on end. I'm expecting another giant spider to pop out at my face any moment.

"You know, compared to climbing a wall of ice, this is a walk in the park." Hisao, of course, didn't bat an eye at our situation. I guess the module he's carrying gave him some of the personality traits as well.

"If you two would kindly be quiet, that'd make this more bearable." Haruhi's also more curt than usual, which is definitely not like her.

I tap Kanshou against the wall next to me. "Hey Ellie, remind me again why is it that we have the equivalent of a million doomsday devices but not a single flashlight?"

"_I regret to inform you that you've never needed that function in the past. If you'd like to make that a feature, please remind me after we've disconnected."_

"It's always when you lose stuff you realize how much you depend on it." Hisao's tone is sympathetic, albeit slightly sarcastic.

"Shut up and don't remind me." I'm feeling pretty depressed. I've been rather powerless as of late.

"Shh..." Haruhi lowered her voice to a whisper and took a crouching position. "We're not alone in here."

I hear movement, like rustling sounds. But it didn't sound like footsteps. I look around, and I can't make out much in the dark.

"Ellie. Threat indicators, now." I hold my breath as my heart rate increases. Raising Kanshou to my chest and handing Bakuya to Hisao, I press my back against the wall.

Hisao remains calm, standing on guard. He's not nearly as tense as either me or Haruhi. It's as if nothing really freaks him out now.

"_Motion tracking indicates no targets. Are you sure?" _

Haruhi looks around, and then upwards. I follow her line of sight, but it's still too dark to see anything.

"Don't...move!" Haruhi's voice was like a hiss, hardly audible. She's clearly scared of whatever she's seeing. What sort of danger are we in?

I feel my heart pounding against my chest. This is a really bad situation. I'm scared. Really scared, because I don't know what's there, and how it's going to attack us. I hate being uncertain of a danger, especially after what happened with my parents.

Taking aim, Hisao throws Bakuya towards the ceiling where Haruhi was looking. I hear a sound like meat being stabbed, and then a loud thud.

"I said don't move!" Haruhi raised her voice slightly in horror.

But her warning was in vain. The moment the thud happened, I heard low-pitched screeching noises from all directions. It wasn't just one or two things were we dealing with here. This sounded like a horde of creatures.

"Oh…shit…" Hisao realizes his mistake too late. I couldn't see the look on his face right now, but if I could, I'd sure like give him a kick to the face to go with it.

"_Correction. I am detecting 12 moving targets rapidly converging on your location."_

"Okay, run!" I shout.

I take the lead, following Ellie's navigation arrows. Forget being careful, we're all dead if we stay still.

We turn a few more corners and end up before a door. The screeching noises come closer, and I hear thudding noises that echo loudly. We're literally pinned down.

"Shit, the door's electronically locked!" I glare at the keycard reader. My brain is overwhelmed by panic. I don't know what to do, and we're mere seconds away from a gruesome end if I don't think of something.

"Fire-Style." Haruhi weaves hand signs. "Fireball Jutsu!"

The fireball illuminates the corridor and reveals our enemies to us: large, skinless mutated creatures with exposed brain tissues and incredibly long tongues.

"_Enemies identified as Bio-Organic Weapons, nicknamed Lickers."_ Ellie took this moment to highlight all 12 of them in red.

I freeze with terror. This is how we're going to die, torn apart brutally by these creatures. It will be far from painless. At that moment, the image of my father's last moments flashes before my eyes.

"Ah...!" Both hands are clutching my face. Kanshou is dropped onto the ground "Ah…Ah…!" Terror and panic rip away my wit and composure.

"Pull yourself together." Hisao retrieves my weapon and stands in front of me as I collapse to my knees.

The light burns out as the fireball is extinguished. Haruhi gasps for air. "No good. I can't keep that up forever."

Using pure instinct, Hisao thrusts Kanshou forward into the head of one of the creatures when it leaped at us. Quickly retracting the blade, he deflected whatever was coming at him after. "Can you cut the power like you did last time?"

"No." Haruhi looked around the keycard reader. "The circuit box has to be on the other side!"

"Well, shit." Hisao clicks his tongue in annoyance.

"Hisao…" I'm still on my knees, unable to move.

"Don't act like you're about to die." I hear a kicking sound and something being sent flying away. "I won't let you die."

"I'll have to cut through the door." Haruhi holds her arm up. With a high-pitched sound, electricity surrounded her hand. She plunges her hand into the door at one end and guides it towards the other, slicing through the thick steel inch by inch.

I hear more screeching noises from the creatures, and then the sound of flesh being cut.

"That definitely stings…" Hisao mutters, dismissing his injuries as little more than a nuisance.

Why am I so powerless when it matters the most? I wanted the System because I could finally have the power to protect the people I cared about. But now, of all times, I'm left with nothing.

"I got it!" Haruhi kicked open the door, bathing us in incandescent light.

"On your feet man, we are leaving!" Hisao grabs me by the scruff of my neck and pulls me to my feet. Taking one of my arms, he drags me away from the dark corridor. His clothing is damp and dyed red with his blood. His injuries are not serious, but it's enough to make me gasp in shock.

We run into the newly opened hallway. At the end is an emergency exit, exactly where Ellie was pointing us to. The creatures behind us emerged from the shadows, still determined to hunt us down.

"_11 targets remaining."_ Ellie marked each creature with a red diamond for targeting. But that's useless when I am in my current state.

We reach the end of the hallway. Haruhi turns around and fires out another fireball, stalling the creatures momentarily. But they leap off the ground and start crawling on the walls, nimbly like spiders. Even if we leave through the emergency exit, they'll continue chasing us.

Haruhi opens the emergency exit, causing an alarm to sound. Hisao pulls me onto the other side of the door, and waited for Haruhi. But Haruhi wasn't moving.

"The hell are you waiting for?" Hisao beckoned to Haruhi. "Let's go!"

"Someone has to hold them off. Even if you barricade that door, they'll still be after you." Haruhi smiles solemnly. She pulls the door towards her, closing the emergency exit.

"No!" I smash my fist into the door. Through the small panel of glass in the door, I see the creatures coming closer and closer.

"It's okay." Haruhi spoke in a gentle voice, nodding to assure me.

"Not it's not!" I scream. "Open the fucking door!"

"You've got to get out of here, remember? Why do you value our lives so much when you're the only one in danger?" Haruhi sighed, as if I was an idiot, before turning away from me.

"Haruhi!" My heart in my throat, I pound the door furiously with both hands.

I'm grabbed from behind and restrained by Hisao. "Come on, let's go." He jams Kanshou into the door handles on our side, sealing the exit.

"We have to save her, dammit!" I tried to resist, but Hisao's grip on me is unwavering. I can't even put up resistance against him.

"No! Haruhi!" I scream at the top of my lungs in fury.

As I'm dragged further and further away from the emergency exit, I see a few flashes of electricity, a fire ball or two.

"_5 targets remaining."_

A spear of electrical energy briefly appeared in front of the glass, weaving left and right.

"_3 targets remaining."_

And then blood splattering against the glass, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground.

"No…" My body goes limp. My arms lose their will to fight. Hisao releases me and I drop down to the ground in despair.

"There's no point in lingering. There's nothing left for us here." Hisao tries getting me to stand.

"GET OFF ME!" Tears were flowing down my face. My mind was driven over the edge. Leaving Haruhi to die had driven home the reality of the situation. I'm useless. Two of my friends died protecting me. How could I possibly forgive myself for that when I vowed to not let any of them die?

"Aigis…Haruhi…" Through sobs, I murmur their names. The people who protected me until the end. The people who I couldn't save. Such a thing could not be forgiven.

"_Nara Hishikawa. If you have any intention of resolving the situation, you have to learn to let go of that which you fear to lose."_ It was Ellie who prodded me this time. _"I have transferred the Ninjutsu Module back to you. It contains some of your passive abilities."_

I am silent in response. I couldn't say anything back.

"Look, if you're going to save anyone…" I'm struck in the face by a fist. The force might've knocked me out cold. A massive overhead punch that struck with such force it could've been a meteor from outer space. I'm knocked down and hit my head against the floor. Sharp pain rushes through my neck and head.

Hisao looks down at me furiously with his hand still balled up in a fist. "Then stop crying like a kid and get the fuck up!"

"…Are you trying to pick a fight?" I rise to my feet unsteadily. I felt a seething angry in my chest.

"Maybe." Hisao matches me glare for glare. "If you're going to keep acting stupid I might just have to knock you out and drag you around."

I raise the headband covering my left eye, regaining my complete field of vision. I draw out the revolver-like object that I've kept concealed within my suit's inner pocket this whole time. It's my Evoker, a device used to summon the manifestation of my inner self. The inner self is called a Persona, akin to a "mask" for an individual to use when facing hardship. A Persona defies the laws of my universe; it is immensely strong in combat and allows its owner to use magic.

"That won't be necessary." I wipe away the tears on my face, as my grief is replaced by icy rage. "Whoever did this…whoever forced us to suffer…will feel agony."

"_Are you sure it's okay to resort to this? You might die if you have to summon it outside of the Dark Hour."_

I nod, grinding my teeth to help me contain my emotions. "If we're faced with death again, there won't be an alternative." Any ability costs something to use, even if it is an ability that truly belongs to me. The more powerful an ability is, the more of my stamina it will drain. For every action, there will be an equal and opposite reaction. That holds true for any user of the System.

"That's more like it." Hisao nods at me, evidently satisfied. His expression is still stern. "Look, I don't mean to hurt you. I just want everyone to be safe. If keeping you and only you alive will guarantee that everyone will be alive in the end, you matter more than anyone else.

"Even so, no one should have to die." Equipping the Ninjutsu Module, I reacquire the knowledge it contained. My fatigue vanishes instantly. I feel power coursing through my body, as my normal physical strength and reaction time return. Two of my passive abilities are reactivated. "We'll get them back, one way or the other." As I say that, I hear something pounding on the emergency exit. We've likely outstayed our welcome. "I'll lead the way."

I take off after the fresh set of navigation arrows. There are only a few hundred meters between me and the Null Space connection point.

"We're going to make it through this." Hisao kept pace with me. "Don't you dare think otherwise."

"No guarantees." I charge forward, uncertain, but ready to fight. "Even if I die, I'm not going to die without a fight!"

….


	19. Chapter 155

**Chapter 15.5: A Certain Magical Defense Barrier**

Six months prior…

"Ellie, I just thought of something." It's an issue that just crossed my mind.

"_Nara Hishikawa, how may I be of assistance?"_

I stare into the white infinity of Null Space and summon a chair to support my body. I can't believe I hadn't thought of this until now. I fall into the chair, completely dumbfounded.

"What happens if someone, say, tried to disintegrate my body the moment he saw me?"

I know the answer to that. But I'd like to make sure first.

"_You're not lacking that much in intelligence, right? But to answer the obvious question, you would die. Any living creature will not survive being atomized."_

I exhale nervously. Up until now, I had never encountered anyone who has tried such an attack on me. I've dealt with magic using Yamato and Devil Trigger. In more extreme cases I've used "Projection Magic".

My "Projection Magic" is summoning weapons and relics from different places at certain instances of time. It's a cheap imitation of a technique that I've seen someone else use. Naturally I added a self-suggestion element to fool me into thinking I'm using the same ability as that person. But even the best weapons and relics that I can muster won't stop me from being disintegrated.

"Is there a way we could create a countermeasure for that?" I summon an interface listing all the copied abilities I have.

It's possible to synthesize a new ability by combining several copied ones, or taking certain aspects of abilities. The process is akin to generating a computer program using blocks of code that you can drag and place at will. Also, according to Ellie, she's the only artificial intelligence capable of doing this. The other artificial intelligences get other functions. Though I'd argue this is by far the most useful.

"_We most certainly can try. As there are infinitely many types of magic, a countermeasure negating each kind would be an impossible task. However, I catalogued one such ability which can work against any magic."_ Ellie brings a particular ability to my attention.

Avalon: The Ever-Distant Utopia.

I read the name three times before it registers in my mind. Where the hell is this from again? It sounds so familiar.

"_I trust you've been paying attention in the 23 high schools you've attended so far."_ Ellie's cheerfully whimsical voice fails to hide that she's mocking me.

"You know what, I really do hate school. How much of what I learn will actually be useful? I'm just there to meet new friends." Seriously, and pardon my language, fuck school.

"_Nara Hishikawa, you will have to leave the System one day. I cannot say how many millennia you will spend in here as that is up to you to decide. But when you do, I assure you that the knowledge you were supposed to have accumulated would allow you to get a well-paying job quite easily."_

Okay, we're off topic. 

"But here's the thing Ellie. Why would I leave? This place is better than my wildest dreams."

"_Don't you miss your own home at all? You've spent a lot of time here already."_

I close my eyes. I do feel a measure of regret. But at the same time, if no time passes in my own reality as this happens, why should I care? I'm effectively immortal.

"Ellie, I've already told you. There's nothing left for me there. Besides, why are you trying to convince me to leave? Do you not want me as a partner?"

"_You misunderstand, Nara Hishikawa. I merely suggest that you exit the System and take some time off. I will always be with you, even in your own reality. You haven't exited for three years, five months, 21 days, 3 hours, and 11 minutes."_

My record for activity in the System was only broken because of how I found Midori. In total I've probably spent about 5 years visiting different realities, in different high schools with different friends. Experiencing new joys and sorrows with every single one of them. I can't even recall everyone's names except for the ones who are closest to me.

"Look, I don't need a break." I throw aside Ellie's unnecessary concern. I know she means well, but we've got more important things to do.

"_As you wish. To get back onto our problem at hand, Avalon is the sheath of Excalibur. It is what gave King Arthur immortality."_ Ellie brings up an image. It's a scabbard of gold, decorated with beautiful blue enamel that emanates nobility like a king's crown. Mysterious scripts are engraved on the center of the scabbard.

"Uh…yeah okay, I think I've heard of that before." I stroke my bare chin as if I had a beard. In truth, I'm just trying to avoid having Ellie realize I have no idea about King Arthur's story.

"_Honestly. Do you recall when you met the person who inspired your "Projection Magic" module? In that reality there also existed a version of King Arthur, who had been summoned by another individual. How could you forget?"_

…Right! The Holy Grail War of Fuyuki City. I don't remember much about what happened there. I've been spending too much time with Hisao and Hanako lately. I really need to re-read the stuff Ellie has archived for me during our travels.

I slowly clap my hands together in apology to both Ellie and Hanako. Sorry Hanako, guess I'm going to be late for that game of chess I promised you because of this little project.

"Okay, I remember now." My head bobs up and down meekly. Names and people don't matter right now. What we need is the ability. "What does this sheath do?"

"_The sheath passively allows the user to regenerate from injuries. Its unique ability creates a bounded field around the user, preventing all interference from the outside world. Nothing penetrates it, not even the data manipulation the System can affect it."_ Ellie plays a video for me, showing the bounded field repelling a ferocious attack while King Arthur stands unharmed as if in the eye of a storm.

Now that's something I could get behind. But hang on…

"Ellie, when was this ability even copied? I don't recall having copied anything asides from the Projection Magic stuff."

"_I took the liberty of copying it myself since it is the first time I had ever come across such an absolute defense. It appeared that it would become useful to you."_

Way to go Ellie! If I could give you a big hug right now I totally would. This is probably the best discovery since Yamato!

"Alright, this seems perfect. Too perfect. What limitations are there?" There's a drawback to everything. Even this so called absolute defense should have some kind of weakness.

"_You're quite perceptive this time."_ Ellie creates a barrier in front of me, probably to simulate the effects of Avalon. _"Just as the outside world cannot interfere with anything inside the bounded field, nothing inside the bounded field can interfere with the outside world."_

A dummy appears inside the barrier and fires a hand gun. The moment bullet hits the barrier it freezes and drops to the ground. Normally, only something like an electromagnetic field could stop a bullet going so fast.

"Hmm. That's not good enough then." I frown while staring at the bullet. It's not damaged at all, so the bounded field just creates a divide. It won't hurt anything that touches it, but at the same time if I can't do anything while using Avalon I essentially become an old turtle, unable to be hurt but also immobile.

"Is there any way we can limit the effect to just non-interference from the outside world?"

"_My processor cannot even begin to understand the mechanisms behind Avalon, let alone alter the phenomenon it causes." _ Ellie sounds perplexed for once. _"Magic defies all scientific explanation to create a certain phenomenon. I cannot analyze any kind of magic and I'm limited to only emulating the effects in a different way. It is the same reason why I cannot explain how the Reality Projection System works. At the same time however, since all AIs have a unique ability, I believe there is at least one AI who can duplicate magic perfectly."_

"Wait, so what have you been doing with the Summoned Swords of the Yamato module?" I didn't even know that Ellie couldn't copy magic. The Summoned Swords ability calls magical swords to my command to impale enemies. How has that been working?

"_As a matter of fact, I replaced them with regular swords that are translucent and aqua in appearance. They still have very high penetrating power because I've set them to oscillate at a high frequency. I also made them non-ferromagnetic so they can't be stopped unless disintegrated."_

"…Just to avoid problems in the future, can you remind me of what can you copy and what can't you copy?"

"_I can copy any piece of equipment perfectly, even divine constructs. I can copy any ability by recreating the phenomenon caused. We can treat it as cause and effect. _

_For example Ninjutsu like the Lightning Blade, Amaterasu, and Tsukuyomi are not actually copied. But I am able to replicate their effects. Lightning, jet-black fire that can't be extinguished, and illusions are all effects that can be recreated, regardless of their cause, by using the System's data manipulation. As I've said before, don't ask me how data manipulation works. Data manipulation is just a tool that I use, not something I understand. The limitation is that the _cause_ is magical in nature. None of the abilities you have are the genuine article because I cannot analyze how it is caused. Consequently, I can only recreate the effect, making it a working imitation of the original with the same effect. That's why all copied abilities are weaker than the original._

_Anyway, this isn't limited to just effects on your environment. Let's say that we want to have an ability to manipulate neon or magnetism. I could simulate the ability to fire bursts of neon, levitate, even turn your whole body into neon and allow you to move quickly and become less vulnerable. I could also give you the ability to affect ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic objects by making your body capable of creating electromagnetic fields. I do apologize for the long explanation. If you need a reminder again, I can replay this exact conversation for you."_

"Hold your horses Ellie. I understood maybe 40% of your explanation. All I really got was that none of my abilities are the real thing, just imitations to cause the same effect. I thought that was only the case for the "Projection Magic" module. So, are Yamato's attacks simulated too?"

I recall the sword's ability to slash objects at almost any distance and cut through cleanly, regardless of size. "Is that just your data manipulation as well?"

"_It seems you weren't paying enough attention. I said, I recreate all equipment perfectly, even divine constructs. Any phenomena they cause are the real deal. That being said, since you're not the proper wielder their effects might be diminished."_

"Okay. That's a relief." But still, that doesn't solve the problem of the magical defense barrier. "So by the same token, we can try to simulate Avalon. But…"

Either way, we're stuck. We can run with Avalon and I become a turtle or we have to think of another solution. But this is the kind of problem-solving that keeps me excited. It's like being an engineer. A problem doesn't necessarily have only a single solution. Since we're presented with a set solution, maybe it's possible to create a similar one without the drawbacks.

"Ellie, can you emulate Avalon's bounded field somehow?"

Ellie is silent for a moment, but the answer is not what I wanted to hear. _"Replication of the field is impossible. I do not understand the mechanism behind it. You would only be able to use that ability if you carried Avalon with you."_

"What if we made something similar to it?"A switch clicks in my mind, giving me an idea. I don't need to block out absolutely everything. I just need something so someone can't turn me into particles with a gaze.

"_What are you suggesting?"_ Ellie wiped the Null Space, removing all visual interfaces and the test dummy.

A big smile appeared on my face. "I'll tell you what. We got hooked on how marvellous Avalon is that we forgot what our purpose was initially. We just want to negate magic, not block out all interference." Truth be told I might've not thought of this if Ellie hadn't shown me Avalon.

"_So? You have a solution in mind?"_

I chuckle heartily. Yes, I most certainly do have a solution. "Avalon has inspired me. King Arthur's defense was absolute, so we need only to follow a similar principle. Let's create a bounded field that negates magic only. It would still allow me to interfere with the outside world."

"_That is impossible without a method for negation. As I stated before, there are various kinds of magic for every reality, each with different mechanisms. It is similar to how you have flares to deal with heat-seeking missiles but antibiotics for an infection."_

Heh, that stumped me for a second as well. But there's a way we can ignore all of that bullshit all together.

"You're right. But there's a way around that. You know how the Overlaying mechanism works, right?"

"_Actually, I don't. It's like an executable file to me. I can use it for you, but I cannot open the source code. With that said, you probably aren't talking about the source code so much as what the program does."_

"Glad that you caught onto that. Anyway, I'll get to the point." I pull up another interface and bring up the concept of a bounded field. "We can definitely duplicate a bounded field. But instead of creating a non-interference zone, we'll cause everything in the bounded field to be teleported to a duplicate reality in which the concept of magic does not exist. We're going to do that with a small scale Overlaying."

Ellie is quiet. She's probably awed by my ingenuity. Or so I'd like to think.

"…_Yes. I understand what you are trying to say."_ Ellie took a moment to analyze the solution I am proposing.

"How about it? Does that sound like something we can do?"

"_It is possible. I could have the bounded field analyze the surroundings and recreate it using principles similar to that of your own reality using an Overlaying. However, the time it would take to create the bounded field would be slow."_

"How slow are we talking here? As long as it's not more than a few seconds we're good."

"_If we tried to create a sphere of defense like Avalon, a sphere with diameter of up to 25 meters would take three seconds. The benefit of doing something like that is that you would prevent anyone inside the barrier from casting magic. This would negate the abilities of most of your modules, but since your Projection 'Magic' is merely data manipulation, you would still be able to do combat. But if say the enemy also carried a firearm with them, they'd still be able to kill you."_

Hmm. Guns aren't a problem as long as I have my second module, but if someone's trying to disintegrate me instantly that's still too slow. What can we do about that?

"_The alternative of course, if you're not trying to create a field of anti-magic, would be to have the bounded field surround your body like a skin-tight suit. That would only stop magic from directly affecting you, but you would still have full access to your modules. Also, if say someone shot electricity at you using magic, the bounded field would not stop it since it was caused by magic outside the barrier. It would also be possible to transfer a bounded field of a sufficient radius to another person via physical contact. With regards to the possibility of being disintegrated, I ought to mention that this will only stop people from disintegrating you with magic. It won't work against anything else."_

"Give me an example of something that would be stopped and something that wouldn't be stopped. With regards to the suit-like barrier I mean."

"_If say an enemy used microscopic explosives of supernatural origin and injected them into your body the barrier would prevent them from detonating. Conversely, if an enemy snapped his fingers and launched a fireball at you, the barrier would not stop it."_

Hmm…there are weaknesses but this is good. It means all I really have to do is alternate between two methods of defense and I won't have to worry about being disintegrated by someone looking at me. It's not a perfect solution like I had hoped for, but it's pretty dang close.

"Alright Ellie, let's make the second version a passive ability on all of my modules, and make an active ability to switch over to the defensive sphere." I'm overjoyed with this outcome. This is the thrill of problem solving, which might be the only thing I ever liked about school.

"_I should warn you now that you can only use this on yourself or someone else, and not both at once. Beginning installation."_

A few seconds later, the process was complete.

"Okay." I'm brimming with anticipation. "Let's try this bad boy out."

"_How do you propose we do that?"_

"Simple, you try to disintegrate my hair. The barrier should stop it." It's really obvious how to test it.

"_That wouldn't work because I'm only able to disintegrate your hair with data manipulation. It'd go right through the barrier."_

"Ah…right." I shake my head at my own stupidity. "I forgot about that. Well then, I guess we'd need to test this against real magicians then? Some good old fashioned live fire exercises."

"_There's one reality suitable for your test. It contains both espers and magicians. I can bring you to it right now and you can do a combat exercise against live targets."_

"Sounds good to me. Let's do this." I summon Yamato to my hand. My signature black cloak appears around me. I unsheathe Yamato and slash three times in the blink of an eye. I feel the sword's demonic power slicing through space, and I smile confidently. "Time to kick some ass."

…

"Ellie, where are we?" I examine my surroundings carefully. I'm in some kind of laboratory. It looks pretty high tech to me, so I don't think I've been here before. I should've asked Ellie if it was a place we've been before.

"_This is a laboratory in Academy City, Japan. In this laboratory, there is currently an ongoing battle between two espers. You've never been here before, by the way."_

A sudden explosion causes me to almost lose my balance. Yeah, she definitely isn't kidding. But this is all the better, since I need only to jump into the fight and take a side to test out my barrier. This'll take only a few minutes at most.

"Transport me to the combat zone. Also, use Module One to teleport me to safety if I am unable to react fast enough. They don't know we're a duo after all."

"_Roger that."_

In the next instant, I'm standing in a battlefield. Inside what looks like a storage room, I see four girls. One of them is significantly injured and exhausted. She looked like she'd collapse any second. Her clothes are torn and covered with dust. One of the other girls was attacking the injured one using some kind of green laser beam, and the two other girls stood behind her. This fight seems a little unfair to me. Looking at the face of the injured girl though, something snaps within me.

I slash Yamato horizontally at the ground between the combatants, creating a massive shockwave that anyone would notice.

"What?!" The injured girl jumps backwards and avoided the shockwave.

The girl firing the laser beams turns her arm and creates a shield, blocking the shockwave.

I stare directly at the space in front of the injured girl, marking it as my destination, and teleport myself between the fighters with Yamato still drawn.

"And what are we up to? Relying on strength in numbers to win? How cowardly." I smile cruelly and raise Yamato directly at the group of three.

"Who…?" The injured girl behind me questions me for my identity. But given that I'm only here for a fight right now, I don't think I need to answer.

"_Nara Hishikawa, the girl in front of you is one of the most powerful espers here. Her nickname is the Meltdowner. I believe we can use this information for psychological warfare."_

What a team player, Ellie. I love it.

"You needn't question my identity." I address the confused girl that I was protecting, raising my headband to reveal my left eye. "I am here to assist you."

"Bastard…Don't get in our way!" Four balls of green light appear. Laser beams are about to be fired at my head.

Time slows down for me. My left eye analyzes the balls and tells me that it's a mass of electrons. It doesn't count as magic so I'll be vaporized if it touches me. In that case…

"Change. Rho Aias!" I raise my right hand at almost the same moment the laser materializes. Seven blazing red giant petals extend from the palm of my hand, stopping the lasers. The first layer of the Aias is scorched all over and badly damaged, but the second layer isn't even scratched. Guess that's the power of a Conceptual Weapon for you.

I scoff at my opponent, filled with a sense of superiority. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

Meltdowner grits her teeth in annoyance. She was obviously expecting the fight to end easily, considering how banged up this girl behind me is.

"Change." I bring Yamato back to my hand, making seven quick successive slashes. When I sheath the weapon, the wall behind Meltdowner's group collapses with a roar, as if ripped apart by the universe itself. The two girls in the back were speechless as the rubble lands in front of them.

"I deliberately missed you assholes by the way." I take a more aggressive stance and grip the handle of Yamato. I glance back at the girl behind me. "Go. These three are my prey."

Still confused but nodding, the girl slowly gets up and runs in the other direction.

"I won't let you!" A laser is fired at the girl as she runs, but I slice through the electron beam with Yamato's power and cause it to miss.

"Do you really have time to worry about her when you have **me** to deal with?" My left eye glows red.

"You are going to pay for your insolence!" Four green orbs appeared. "You two, get out of here now!"

In the same moment they appear, I slashed four times with Yamato and sheathed the sword. The green orbs are sliced cleanly, scattering the electrons and preventing the laser from being fired at all.

"But..!" One of the girls tried to protest, unwilling to abandon a comrade.

"Just go. Get out of here safely. I can't guarantee your safety while dealing with this man." Meltdowner didn't look away from me as she said this. She must have assessed me as a very dangerous threat.

The two other girls quickly retreated, though it seemed like one of them was hardly able to move and had to be carried by the other. I wait until they're out of sight. What I'm about to do is not going to be pretty.

"You're not an esper are you?" More green orbs appear. "Heh. It won't make a difference to me."

"Change." I switch to Projection Magic. I think of the domed version of the magical barrier, which activates it. There is no visual difference, but…

"Huh?" Meltdowner's supernatural assault is halted instantly. The green orbs dissolve and disappear.

"What's wrong, Meltdowner?" Kanshou and Bakuya appear in my hands. I smirk smugly.

"Who the hell are you? What did you just do?" Meltdowner stared me down in anger. I grasped a small amount of alarm in her expression as well.

"It really is just a magic trick." I raise my weapons in front of my chest in an X.

"Tell me. What have you done?!" She's not able to cast her ability, whatever it is. It looks like barrier is doing its job.

"There's no point in telling you. Those who are marked for death with die, after all." I close the gap between us in an instant, giving her no time to react. I'm moving so fast I might as well be teleporting.

I swing Kanshou and Bakuya downwards on top of her head. Except since I used their flat sides…

BONK!

Meltdowner drops to the ground with a thud. Even I have to wince at that. I nailed her on the head pretty hard. She's out cold.

"Looks like that was a successful test. It's only been about five minutes after we installed the ability." I mutter to distract myself.

"_Why did you go out of your way to do that? You could've just incapacitated her painlessly."_

I examine Meltdowner's face. She looked as though she was in agony, but she was still alive. "Something about her rubbed me the wrong way. It might've been her pride or arrogance. It really is satisfying to shut someone up when they're being cocky." Though, I do admit I'm guilty of being cocky too.

"_And what of the girl who ran away? Her nickname is Railgun by the way."_

The other girl Meltdowner was attacking?

"Just by looking her in the eye, I could tell who I should side with." I am confident I took the right side for this fight. "She reminds me of my younger self."

"_You can smell your own kind after all. I checked over your psychological profile when you first entered the System. The idea of a Hero of Justice is naïve and impossible to achieve. What's the point of such a sentiment? Even you once thought it to be obsolete."_

"You might not realize it, Ellie." I disengage my module and switch the barrier to its suit form. "But sometimes, things are beautiful because they are unobtainable. Nevertheless, we want to strive towards them. The way I look at the world has changed since we first met."

Actually, this would be an excellent place to conduct another experiment. I'll show up as an antagonizing entity to Railgun and goad her about her goals and beliefs the same way I did with that sword-wielding magical girl. Call me messed up in the head, but fighting people that are just like me is quite elating. It gives me a lot of joy to see those same people realize their mistakes and become stronger as well.

"_Would this also apply to your break from the System? I truly think that would be beautiful."_ Ellie…That was quite the low blow.

I sigh. "If you want to put it bluntly…Anyway, we're done with the test here."

"_Did you not wish to see if you could defeat Meltdowner without the barrier? I'm fairly confident that it would have been an impressive duel had you not used a surprise attack and ended the fight prematurely."_

"Nah…" I walk away from the painfully looking scene behind me. "She was as good as dead the moment I negated her abilities. If I'm ever in a fight for my life, all I have to do is negate abilities and kill my enemy with Kanshou and Bakuya before they've even realize what happened. Or if it doesn't stop them from fighting, it puts us on a level playing field regardless of our powers. However, I do wish to test this Railgun individual. Teleport me to her."

"_Of course."_

I stand now before Railgun, outside a control room. I see lots of panels here, so I'd guess this stuff is pretty important to the laboratory. But there's a problem, and that would be that Railgun has already set the whole room on fire somehow.

"You…" Railgun raised her head slightly at my presence. "Tell me, who are you?"

I tilt my head and shrugged in response. "A Hero of Justice."

"Don't give me bullshit like that." Electricity crackles around her body in a threatening manner. "Who are you?"

"Heh…" I slide my headband back down over my left eye. "Well, I can't tell you specifics right now. My story is a long one. But there is one thing I will say, Railgun."

Her eyes widen at the mention of her nickname.

"You're a dumbass." I laugh in a condescending manner. I don't know her circumstances, but this would be the best way to provoke her while also possibly getting her to realize something important.

"Damn you! What do you know?!" Electricity is blasted at me. Man, first electrons in laser form, now electrons in lightning form.

I bring Kanshou to my hand and deflect the electricity away from my body. I narrow my eyes. Her attack was not in earnest. Rather, it was out of anger that I was acting like I understand her.

"I don't care if you helped me. How dare you act like you know what I'm going through?!" More electricity is built up around her body. The hairs on my neck are standing on end from the voltage. Electrical generation is her power, huh?

"I don't actually." I lower my weapon. "But I do know that the quickest way to self-destruction is trying to everything alone."

The electric build-up stops. "What?" Railgun is speechless, like I had just punched her in the chest and winded her.

"Let me make a wild guess. You've been neglecting sleep and proper nourishment. You've refused to tell your friends about what you're 'going through'. You're trying to solve a problem when that problem isn't even yours. On top of that, you've been fighting without anyone to rely on."

Railgun has no retort, probably because I'm right on the mark with my so-called wild guess. She's absolutely mortified.

"Want to know why I could guess all of that? Because that's something I've done in the past." I approach her slowly. "And let me tell you, it's pathetic. At your age, shouldn't you have learned that there will always be things you can't do alone?"

"Shut up…!" She backs away from me, firing electricity at my feet to stop me from moving. "You're wrong! I...!"

"I'm not wrong, because I know." I continue advancing, since she isn't hitting me directly. "Shouldering everything alone is foolish. Only failure awaits anyone who walks down such a path."

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a coin or something. Hmm…I get it. That's why she's called Railgun. If she can generate electricity from her own body, then she can launch projectiles using electromagnetic fields.

"Stay back!" She raises the coin towards me, holding it like she's about to flip it into the air.

I continue walking forward, ignoring her. "A world where you can solve any problem alone is nothing more than a delusion."

Electricity crackles loudly. The coin is flipped. I see reluctance in her eyes. This is likely a trump card. I bet she isn't the kind capable of killing in cold blood. However…

"Rho Aias!" I raise my right hand out and call forth the Seven Rings of Heaven again.

The coin is fired at me at supersonic speed, creating a massive sonic boom. It causes me to hear nothing but a loud painful ringing. The petals emerge from my palms and intercept the projectile that was meant to shoot past me without causing injury.

The coin breaks into pieces upon hitting the Aias but the outermost petal is cracked really badly where the coin hit, almost shattering. The attack is remarkably strong, just like the lasers from Meltdowner.

"You are powerful." I acknowledge this as I examine the damage done to my most durable shield.

Railgun is shocked, however. It seems she truly believed that nothing could stop that attack.

"I'll let you in on a secret." I allow the Aias to disappear. "None of my abilities are my own."

"Huh?" Railgun looks at me as though I have a few screws loose.

"You heard me. Everything I have is copied or borrowed from someone else. I didn't work hard to obtain what I have. Unlike you espers, I don't have any natural talent or powers." I'm standing right in front of her now. I sense no hostility from her.

"It's just like relying on your friends when you need to. If I can't do something by myself, someone I know might be able to help. I just call their powers to the forefront and use them as my own. I am never truly alone. That is why I can fight by myself." I raise my right arm and reach out towards the ceiling. "Let me show you what I mean."

I summon the weapon Ea to my hand. Ea is a divine weapon with an appearance similar to a lance, the ultimate trump card I have. The "blade" has three cylindrical parts. The middle segment spins clockwise and the top and bottom segments spin counter-clockwise. Each part has red inscriptions, signifying it as a divine weapon. The weapon's attack crushes the enemies by simulating spatial rends. I'd be willing to bet only Avalon could possibly stop Ea. Upon activation, the segments of Ea will gradually begin to rotate faster with each revolution, synchronizing with the movements of the Heavens.

_**"I speak of genesis. The elements amalgamate, coalesce, and bring forth the stars that weave all of creation."**_

I raise Ea into the air, and its segments begin rotating, gathering a howling wind with the force of a hurricane. It is an overwhelming torrent of power, shaking the ground that we stand on. It forces anyone down onto their knees with its might.

Railgun shields her head with her arms and kneels down, her expression exposing her utter disbelief.

"_**You, who would deny the truth of Earth, witness the truth of Heaven!"**_ Ea's speed ramps up, increasing the intensity of its gathered energy even more. The wind completely extinguishes the flames and begins ripping off huge parts of the panels. The tremors under our feet are powerful like that of an earthquake, to the point where the entire laboratory might collapse on us.

"_**Return everything to the Origin! Enuma…Elish!"**_ I thrust Ea skyward.

The deluge of power is released. With a thunderous roar, Enuma Elish rips through the ceiling above us, obliterating everything along the way.

This is what the demonic weapon Ea is capable of. Its might is unrelenting, and its destructive power is unparalleled. Everything it touched simply ceased to exist.

When the dust settles and Ea's power recedes, Railgun stares wordlessly at the damaged that Ea caused. Enuma Elish destroyed not only this ceiling, but punched a gaping hole all the way to the rooftops. Pale moonlight shines through to the floor we stand. Imagination fails to conceive what would have happened if I allowed Ea to unleash its full power. I lower Ea, and returned it from whence it came.

I pick up a piece of the shattered coin and hold it up to her. "This is the difference between you and me. Do you understand? Don't try doing everything alone. Your sense of responsibility will destroy you if you do, just like this coin. Even if you don't care about your own life, just remember this. If you trust in your friends they'll have a reason to trust in you."

I allow the piece of the coin to drop back down to the ground. "Anyway, I'm done lecturing you. Do whatever you want. If I feel bored enough I might just drop by and save your sorry ass again when you need it."

I turn around and teleport myself outside the laboratory before I get a chance to hear her reaction. What was I doing anyway? She's about middle school age. Surely she's old enough to know all of this without me telling her.

I sigh. Good grief. It makes me mad when I think about it. She's exactly how I was before I found the System, trying to do everything alone. That kind of experience will suffocate anyone. And because I've lived through that before that I can't tolerate it more than anyone else.

I hold my head with my left hand and stumble, just realizing now that I feel very light headed. Using Enuma Elish, even in its weaker form, causes me a lot of fatigue. There's no doubt that releasing its true power would kill me.

"_That was quite a performance. But you've done better before. I also advise against such a display of power when it causes you enervation. If you're not careful you might die."_

I sneer. "I know. I'm just pissed off, that's all. Anyway, let's go back to Yamaku. I've got a chess game to win as well."

"_As you wish."_ Ellie complied immediately.

This'll be a little jarring, since I'm pretty much going from the battlefield to high school nearly instantaneously.

My cloak dissolves away, replaced by the Yamaku Academy Uniform. I'm transferred into Null Space for an instant before I find myself standing in the girls' dormitory of Yamaku Academy. I knock on the door directly in front of me.

"Hanako, it's me."

The door opens. Hanako, still wearing her uniform as well, is surprised at my sudden appearance.

"Wait…why are you here now?" She looks away shyly. Haha, it's so like her.

"I promised you a chess game a while back." I look out the nearby window. It's not quite sundown yet on a Sunday. "Would this be a bad time?"

"N-no! Not at all!" Hanako quickly let me inside her room. She's smiling, just barely. It's quite the sight for sore eyes. Seeing her open up to people slowly is like seeing the sun set. It's so magnificent that words can do it no justice.

She fumbles around one of her drawers briefly and takes out her chessboard. I quickly gather all of the images of Meltdowner in my mind and throw them away, where I can never find them again. Right now, I want to enjoy this peaceful moment.

I sit down across from her on the carpet, and we both set up our pieces. "Your move, Hanako." I try to smile warmly, but that's not something I'm too good at.

"O-okay." Hanako contemplates her first move.

I observe her face while she is thinking. There's something about her that captivates me. Despite her physical appearance, somehow, she appeals to me far more than that devil of a woman Shizune ever did. And yet I can't wrap my mind about. Hanako is just…beautiful.

"Nara…?" Hanako's voice grabs my attention. She's blushing and hiding her face by looking away, probably because I was staring at her.

"Right, sorry, just spaced out for a moment." Well, what the heck. Wasn't I the one who said that things that are unobtainable are beautiful? Guess I'll be friend-zoned for a good time to come. But that isn't a bad thing at all.

"I don't plan on losing today!" I move my knight forward, and begin lose myself in yet another enjoyable game of chess with Hanako.

…


	20. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16: One Answer (Kyon)**

It's hard, fighting people you care about. It hurts even more when you're trying to kill them. It doesn't matter what kind of physical injury I suffer. Every one of my attacks cut through my own heart and picks apart my resolve piece by piece.

I fire yet another Hrunting at Nagato. How many attacks of mine and Asakura's have landed? Nagato's uniform is shredded and covered with blood. The extent of her wounds is far worse than anything Asakura did back then. But even with debilitating damage, Nagato cannot stop fighting back. No matter what kind of non-fatal injury Asakura and I inflict, Nagato attacks us without pause. Asakura blocks everything that comes our way, but this is getting nowhere.

"Hmm. Even without repairs to her interface, Miss Nagato is quite resilient." Asakura stops another glowing white projectile from Nagato and shatters it. "Perhaps we should change our tactics and stop her functions altogether."

No. That is out of the question. We're going to turn her back to normal. My next arrow is going through the back of your head if you even try that!

"And what of Miss Suzumiya?" Asakura's words cause my entire body to stiffen. "Do you really think she is safe out there? She could be-"

"SHUT UP!" I scream in rage. I know. I didn't want to think of the possibility. Koizumi was already the last straw for me. No one else is dying on my watch.

"My orders were to protect you and Haruhi Suzumiya. I will not waste any time here." Her icy tone juxtaposed with her smile, Asakura uses some sort of telekinesis to bring her thrown knife back to her hand. "You needn't aid me. But you cannot stop me."

Without a second thought, I project Caladbolg and aim it with my bow right at Asakura. Yet I cannot bring myself to fire. My conscious holds me back. She is right, and acknowledging that feels like taking a knife and cutting my stomach open. I can't save Haruhi and Nagato. I have to pick one.

But how can anyone make such a choice? Is it wrong that I want to save both of them?

Biting my lips in utmost fury, I shift my aim slightly. The bow is pointed at Nagato now.

Sensing my cooperation, Asakura prepares to throw her knife at Nagato again. "I hope you remember what to do. Let's finish it."

The knife is thrown. It accelerates faster than a bullet. Nagato claps her hand in front of her, catching the knife. The knife is thrown with such force that the knife is still oscillating while trapped in Nagato's hands. Taking advantage of the opening, Asakura then slowly raised her hands, and just like before, her arms glowed all the way from her fingertips, extending into deadly white lances.

Asakura's arms close in on Nagato from both directions. Nagato jumps upwards and arcs back, dodging the attack. But this leaves her with no way to dodge Caladbolg, should I choose to fire it.

I don't want to do this. But Haruhi's face flashes into my mind, erasing all hesitation from me.

The Helix Sword strikes Nagato dead on. Asakura shields us with a force field in the same instant. Against the force of a nuclear missile, Nagato's small body is blown away like a doll caught in a hurricane.

I look away. It is hard to describe my feelings right now. I wonder if anyone could describe this is like. There are too many emotions to list. But guilt is probably the most overpowering. It crushes what little is left of my willingness to go on.

"It appears that was sufficient." Asakura, evidently satisfied, walks over to Nagato's charred body, to make sure that she wasn't getting up again. "With that much damage, she will not be able to manipulate any data."

Slowly, I approach Nagato. I kneel down beside her. Even her face was blackened, making her almost unrecognizable.

Nagato…

"Forgive me." Nagato's voice is soft, almost inaudible. "I have failed you." The same emotionless voice that I had become accustomed to hearing brought me very close to breaking down in tears.

"No…Nagato, I am so sorry." I kneel down and take her hand in mine. "I should've thought of some other way."

"My interface malfunctioned, and the cause was unknown. You were put into grave danger, and it was all I could do just to resist. This was the only solution."

Asakura places her hand on Nagato's chest. "I will terminate your interface for now, as you are unable to function. Your interface will be repaired when the Integrate Data Sentient Entity deems it to be necessary."

Nagato did not resist, and her body sublimates into little tiny globs of light instantly. The light spreads out like seeds of a dandelion, fading into nothingness. With a heavy heart, I stand back up. A cold breeze blows by, leaving me feeling even more despondent.

At the same time, Asakura starts fading away as well.

"It appears my time is up as well. Even with this much processing power, I cannot maintain a stable data link in this closed space." Asakura pays no heed to her gradually dissolving body. She's still smiling, like nothing is wrong.

I turn my back to her angrily. "So that's it? You just showed up to kill Nagato?"

"I think you don't appreciate the things I do for you, Kyon." Asakura sighs gently. "I did what I had to keep you and Haruhi Suzumiya alive. If Miss Nagato cannot protect you, isn't it natural to have someone else to do so? I can be summoned in the event of an emergency. That is why I am here. Just for your information, if the situation permits, I could even move back from Canada."

My jaw drops slightly at the thought of Asakura suddenly showing up back at North High. I turn around to shoot Asakura a venomous look.

"Heh, only if the situation permits." At this point, only Asakura's head remained floating in the air ominously as she faded away. "One last thing you should know, Kyon. The Integrated Data Sentient Entity has determined that a certain individual here is responsible for this closed spaced and the phenomenon within it. We cannot discern who it is exactly, but we have grasped the mechanisms behind it. If you find this individual and terminate him or her, you will be able to break down this closed space. Enjoy your time with Miss Suzumiya then. Goodbye."

After revealing those last vital pieces of information, Asakura completely vanished, leaving me completely alone. I walk forward a few steps and gaze off the edge of the rooftop. The fighting had drawn an extraordinary amount of zombies to this particular building. The zombies stumble over each other, trying to break down the front door.

I don't have time to deal with them though. The possibility of Asakura returning is a concern that I also have to set aside. Since I doubt Asakura has any reason to lie to me, my highest priority after finding Haruhi would be to track down this certain individual that Asakura mentioned. It's the only clue I've had since getting caught up in this mess. Asakura said I had to terminate that person. Killing that person doesn't bother me as much as it should; considering the kind of pain I've been forced through, I'd be more than happy to pay them back ten times over.

I sit down to think just for a moment.

If I go by what Koizumi hypothesized before, everyone at the convention is trapped here and then there's also other random realities thrown into mix. Then I have absolutely nothing to start with. I recall the list on the PDA that Koizumi showed me. Any one of those individuals could have some kind of supernatural power like Haruhi that I wouldn't know of. My power is certainly not my own, but since I never had a chance to ask, what about Shana's and Yuji's? Ruby and Stella weren't a part of the convention, and God knows how many other realities there are that are undiscovered. I could be stuck here for years before I find this person.

A familiar face suddenly resurfaces in my mind. Nara. If that video log that Koizumi and I found is showing something from his past, then he might have the ability to manipulate space and time in addition to whatever else he does. Going by that same logic, anyone at the convention who possessed superpowers before it occurred is also a suspect, but Nara would still be the most likely culprit. As mysterious as Nara is though, he doesn't seem like the kind who'd put people through suffering for no reason. Even in that video log, despite how much of a villain he appeared to be, Nara was trying to help that girl. This complicates the situation even further.

I get back up and get ready to move. I am exhausted and mentally drained, but I cannot rest yet. I can figure who is responsible later. Haruhi's safety comes first. I'll head back to where I last saw her and see if I can track her down.

…

Backtracking across all the buildings, I end up back on the street with the line of police cars. All is quiet now, and I don't see any more zombies here.

I tread lightly, in case there is something else here that I can't sense. I follow in the direction that I saw Haruhi went, near an apartment building. I turn a corner and go into an alleyway. A horrid stench greets me, likely the smell of something rotting. There is a fenced entryway left in an opened position, indicating that someone or something had been here.

"Trace on." I project a sword in my right hand, and press my back against the wall adjacent to the fenced entryway. As I do, the smell of decaying flesh becomes more and more overpowering.

Slowly, I inch towards the entrance, and slowly peek out. There is a dead body with portions of its flesh missing, lying in the middle of the path. The path leads to a flight of fire escape stairs. Two sets of bloody footprints are seen heading in the direction of the stairs. I emerge from my cover and approach the body. Seeing that there's a gunshot wound in the body's head I think it's safe to assume Haruhi came this way.

No sooner had I taken two steps towards the fire escape stairs something falls down onto the ground beside me with a large thud. Out of the corner of my eye, I see that it is a zombie. I look upwards, and see more of them falling from the rooftop of the building to my left. It was literally raining zombies. Good grief. I don't have time to deal with this.

I quickly plant my sword into the head of the zombie closest to me, ensuring that it would not get up again. I take off for the fire escape before the other zombies could get back up. Quickly scaling the wall of the building, I reach the rooftop.

I look around for any trace of movement. Haruhi couldn`t have gone farther than 4 kilometers. A certain street about a block away catches my attention. The pavement was littered with both human and…dog corpses. There was also a fire truck that was on fire, ironically enough. Next to the fire truck was a large building. The sign read "Racoon City Police Department".

I guess that'd be as good as any to check. Haruhi was a police officer after all, and judging from the damage done outside someone had definitely gone in there.

…

Walking over the several bodies piled up outside the entrance to the police station, I enter into the main foyer. There no was resistance from anything, no attacker to surprise me.

The most unnerving thing in a horror movie is a completely silent and empty place, just like this police station right now. The reason for that is because you always expect something to jump out at you and catch you off guard. It is this anticipation of something happening that creates tension and induces paranoia into a human being.

Cautiously, I walk forth. I hear nothing but my echoing footsteps. This place seems completely devoid of all life, but my instincts scream otherwise of course. There are several doors in this area, some on the second floor, and some on the first. Without an indicator of where Haruhi went, I have no idea which door to try. I guess I'll just pick one at random.

But the moment I decide to approach a door, I hear the sound of a something wooden being smashed to bits coming from the door to the right. As a result, I quickly make my way towards the source of the sound. I kick open the door, breaking it off its hinges and sending it flying. A sword is projected in each of my hands, ready to attack.

…..

Except it seems my presence was not needed. For behind the mystery door, I find Shizune cleaning blood off of a katana. Lying near her was a motionless corpse, having been kicked into a window which had been boarded shut, and thrown at a desk with such force the desk had broken in to two. The head had been sliced in half.

Shizune is dressed like some kind of knight, with a chest plate that left her stomach area exposed, a metal plated combat skirt and a blue cape. Even compared to the red cloak that I am wearing, that getup was rather strange. Who came up with these costume ideas?

Noticing me, Shizune quickly sheaths her katana and makes an irritated expression. She picks up a piece of paper and a pen from the broken desk. She scribbles something onto it and holds the paper in front of me.

_Do you have any idea what is going on? I don't know how I got here." _

Allowing my swords to disperse, I take the piece of paper and pen from her and write to her.

_Beats me. I don't know I got here either. I'm looking for answers too. You were asleep in your own house before this right?_

She takes the paper and pen back.

_Yeah. I don't remember anything that happened before I got here._

A question came to mind.

_Aren't you the least bit scared?_

Shizune rolls her eyes at me and snatched the stationary back from me. Wow, I didn't mean any offense.

_It's hard to be scared when I am like this. I mean, nothing really bothers you when you can just kill it with a kick to the head._

Okay, let's totally forget about that dangerous-looking weapon you've left lying against the broken table. Like that wasn't enough to kill anything that moved.

_Also, I have to find everyone else. To make sure they're safe. I can't do that if I'm scared of everything that jumps out at me._

That's a fair point…oh wait I almost forgot! I use the last bit of space left on the paper.

_I'm looking for Haruhi right now. Did you happen to hear anyone in here?_

Shizune shake her head.

Damn it. I throw aside the paper and tuck the pen into my sleeve. I motion Shizune to follow me. But Shizune picks up her katana and tilts her head slightly, unsure of my intentions. Oh for…

I grab Shizune's hand and pull her along. I don't have time for this. I don't know what kind of expression she has right now, but I'll bet she's a little pissed off.

Something wooden smacks me fairly hard in the back of my head. I shrug it off without looking back and kept walking towards the door I was about to go through before I found Shizune.

…

I take back what I said about not having to rely on Nagato. Being with Shizune will be a big problem. She's deaf and mute, and I don't know how to use sign language. If we're attacked by anything, there goes any chance of us communicating.

Shizune's just walking behind, with a very hostile aura about her. I can pretty much hear the sound of crows circling overhead. As if dealing with a hyperactive Haruhi wasn't bad enough.

Good grief.

We passed through some kind of a reception area after the first door, but there was nothing there. I throw open another door. And all of a sudden, a pungent smell pierces into my nostrils, nearly making me gag. It was the smell of something rotting along with the distinct smell of iron. I crouch down a bit to conceal my presence. The doorway leads to a hallway lit only by the light of the moon. I can hardly make out anything asides from the blood-stained floor.

Despite my reluctance to go out, Shizune walks past me into the hallway without a moment's hesitation. I'm tempted to call her back…except she wouldn't hear a word I say. I summon my bow and arrow, and nock the arrow to fire. I follow behind Shizune slowly. The smell grows strong, coming very close to overpowering me.

The echoes of Shizune's footsteps stop abruptly. She stands completely still like a marble statue. I stop as well, unsure of why she stopped moving.

In an instant Shizune dashes forward, leaving a ghost trail behind her. She's about four steps away from where she was standing, with her katana out of the sheath. I'm at a loss for words, because I didn't even see when she drew her sword.

Slowly, Shizune sheaths the sword, exhaling gently. Something falls from the ceiling, and splatters onto the floor. Whatever it is, it's been sliced and diced into pieces. I can make out some teeth and claws, but that's it really.

"Err…" I scratch my head, because I'm unsure what to make of the situation.

Shizune jumps back behind me and slide tackles me, kicking my legs out from underneath me.

"Hey!" I yell in protest as I start falling backwards.

But as I fall back, a bloodied claw comes out of nowhere. The claw makes a sideways swipe that barely missed my face. I land flat on my butt. My mind's not processing what's going on.

I hear the sound of a sword being drawn, followed by two high-pitched ringing sounds and something else hitting the ground. I quickly get back on my feet and ready my bow again. Something leaps out at me from the shadows, and I direct the arrow at its center of mass. It's freaking impossible to see anything in such terrible lighting. Whatever I hit makes a sound that's a mix between a screech and a squeal. Shizune steps in front of me and slices the air in front of her twice. Then there's the sound of more body parts hitting the ground.

The moonlight illuminates one of the body parts. It was a head, shaped like a human's. But it has razor sharp teeth, and its brain is covering its entire face. Some kind of…monster…

I gasp involuntarily. My legs lose their strength momentarily and stumble back. It's a pretty grotesque looking thing. Would you blame me for being startled by it?

"Okay…that's…really…" I fumble for words.

I sense something charging towards me with unbelievable speed. I twist my body around and thrust another arrow that I had just projected forward, spearing the creature through its throat. It croaks, and its body falls limp. I kick the creature's corpse back, utterly disgusted by its appearance.

Sheathing the katana, Shizune turns to face me. She looks pissed. Again. The look on her face says "how could you not have noticed? If I hadn't done anything we would've been dead."

Well excuse me for not having night vision and not being able to communicate with you without words!

I give her a cheeky look, unable to express my frustration with words.

Shizune's expression turns extremely hostile. Her hand reaches for her sword again. Hardly able to contain my own anger, I project a broadsword in my right hand.

But when we thrust our swords forward, our weapons do not strike each other. Our swords are instead plunged into the flesh of more monsters, which just happened to be trying to sneak up when we apparently had our guard down. The creatures dropped down the ground dead.

I cast aside my sword, and it disappears from existence. Shizune turns around abruptly and kept walking forward again. Yeah, she's definitely pissed, and I doubt her mood will get any better.

I kick the corpse of one of the monsters to vent my own frustration. If only Hisao were here, maybe then we'd actually have some semblance of teamwork. Actually, I might even be better off just leaving Shizune to do her thing and go find Haruhi alone. Why do I have to work with her anyway?

But regardless, I keep walking.

….

**Chapter 16: Situation Critical (Nara)**

Okay, we're almost at the point Ellie marked. One problem though.

"So, how do you plan to get past all of that?" Hisao's a little stumped for a solution too.

We managed to get to a tram stop or something. The path to the marked coordinate is on the other side of the tram stop, and we've got one big problem. If we were to descend down the stairway and try to cross to the other side, we've got about a zillion zombies down there blocking our way. Well okay, not a city's population worth, but enough to kill us both if we were foolish enough to try and force our way through. Also, the stairway on our side is clogged with rubble from an explosion of some kind. If we drop down, there's no getting back up for Hisao. I doubt that even with the module he has he can scale a wall without anything to hold on to.

"Ugh, is there a cable or rope somewhere we could use?" I scan the tram stop quickly.

"Even if there was, do you think you could get to the other side without something to secure the rope?"

"Damn it all!" I kick the railing in front of me.

"Well, hang on." Hisao walked to the overpass that connected both sides of the tram stop. He examines it closely.

"What's up?" I walk over to where Hisao was standing and follow his line of sight.

"Well, this overpass is the only solid piece of material connecting both sides right? If we scale across it, we can bypass the zombies altogether."

I pause for a moment. Yeah, it's workable. But…

"How are you going to scale this? Do you see a belaying line and ice axe lying around? Not that it would work on concrete but…"

"Well, I was hoping you'd get something from Haruhi's superpower pack that would let us do it." Hisao sighed in disappointment. "That plan is shot without something to keep us attached."

I was thinking that too, since the Ninjutsu module would allow me to walk on the wall without any problems. But I can't carry another person while doing that because the weight would cause the technique to fail from an excess bending moment.

"Well, let me think on this. Maybe I can find a sharp object that can pierce concrete." I cycle through my memories to see what parts of my Projection Magic module would do the job.

"_If I may, I believe a set HF Machetes would be more than sufficient to secure a firm hold in the concrete. You should be able to use them as holds and rock climb to the other side."_

Ellie activates my module and brings a set of machetes into my hands.

"Ellie, these are…" They looked so generic that I forgot I even had these things.

"_Perfect, correct?"_

Damn right they're perfect. I throw the machetes to Hisao. "These'll work. See those buttons on the handle? Pressing them will cause the blades to vibrate at high frequencies, which will let you stab them into the concrete. Release the button and the blade will stop oscillating."

Hisao looked at the machetes in utter dejection. "I don't get a choice, huh?" He exhales deeply, making no attempt to hide how bad he thought this idea was.

Hisao climbs over the railing and stabs both machetes into the wall. Slowly, he moves towards the other side of the tram stop. He alternates between his right arm and left arm, always having one machete inside the concrete arch. He'll probably be over to the other side in no time.

A massive roar blows away my hopes completely. As I turn to face the source of the roar, I come face to face with a black trench coat wearing Tyrant, who just emerged from the entrance on our side of the tram stop.

"Son of a…!" I immediately switch to my Ninjutsu module with a sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach. Was this the one that Aigis had been fighting?

The Tyrant charges forward, attacking with a sideswipe. I duck the hit, and the Tyrant's fist strikes the wall.

"Fuck!" Hisao slides from his holds; his feet are dangling just out of the reach of the mob of zombies blow him.

"Shit! Hisao!" I glance behind me. Hisao's slid down a good half a meter because of the shockwave caused by the Tyrant's punch.

"Rasengan!" I compress air into my right hand, forming a rapidly spinning ball of densely compressed air. I shove it into the Tyrant's chest, and the compressed ball of air expands and strikes with the force of a tank shell.

The Tyrant smashes hard into the wall behind it, causing everything to shake violently.

"Dude, I'm begging you! No more fucking shaking! Please!" Hisao yells frantically to me.

Hisao's slid down even further, and the zombies' fingers are grazing the soles of his shoes. Anymore and he's a dead man.

"Oh fuck…!" I need to clear that mob out somehow.

But the Tyrant gets back up and charges at me again, its arm raised in a position to punch through my skull.

"_I'll disable any ability capable of causing shockwaves. Hisao should be fine as long as he doesn't slide any further."_

I'm out of options. I have to stall the Tyrant without using any sort of powerful attack. Shit, I can't even begin to describe how scary this is. This is like trying to fight a lion with both hands tied behind my back.

"Lighting Blade!" I step forward to confront my enemy who is less than a meter away from me.

A blade of electrical energy surrounds my arm with a high pitched cry like that of a thousand birds. I aim a strike towards the massive fist of the Tyrant as it roars at me.

My entire body is trembling with fear. What chance do I stand against this thing if it beat Aigis?

I really don't want to die…!

**To be continued…**


	21. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 α:** **Illusion or Reality (Aigis)**

_**I was created to be a weapon, given a personality to use a Persona. My only purpose for existence…was the extermination of Shadows. **_

_**A weapon of supernatural origin, created to fight supernatural enemies. It made sense that I my existence should be meaningless if I completed my mission. I accepted that. It is what I was programmed to do. **_

_**Until I met him. Until I met all of my friends. **_

_**I learned what it meant to be alive. I learned what it meant to have emotions. **__**You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life... Sometimes, all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of.**_

_**I found my answer. I would keep living no matter what, so I could protect them. **_

"…_gis…Ai…...Aigis. If you can hear me, please respond. Aigis, please come in."_

A familiar female voice calls out to me, alerting me from my standby mode.

"Reactivating all Systems, re-engaging Orgia Drive."

I slowly try to get back on my feet. My left leg is still out of commission. I likely won't be moving around very efficiently like this.

I open my eyes again. My surroundings are exactly as they were before my systems shut down. The husk of my enemy from before still remains.

"Ngh…easy does it…" I finally manage to get up into a proper standing position. Elapsed time: 31.3 seconds. It should have taken only 3.0 seconds.

I call out to the voice.

"Who is this?"

"_Aigis, it's me, Ellie. Nara Hishikawa's assistant. I am relieved to see that you are still operational."_

Right, I thought her voice seemed familiar.

"I too am overjoyed to hear from you. What has happened?"

"_Regrettably, despite your efforts, another Tyrant tracked down Nara. He is currently engaged in battle with it."_

"That's…!" I have to find Hishikawa-san right now! He is in no condition to be fighting such a difficult opponent.

"Ellie, please, tell me where Hishikawa-san is. I must find him right away."

"_I can use Augmented Reality to navigate you to where he is. But you do not appear to be combat ready. I would suggest that you remain hidden and safe until we have resolved the situation."_

My Systems Check indicated that I had no ammunition of any kind left. All of my thrusters are badly damaged and non-functional. Structural integrity of several parts of my armour has been compromised. With my left leg disabled as well, indeed I am unfit for another fight. Even so…

"Please, lead the way." I have already made my decision. I will not lose another dear friend, especially not when there is something I can do to protect him.

"_As you wish. But I cannot guarantee your safety if you do this. Please be cautious."_

"I will. Thank you."

My vision lights up with red arrows, marking where I should head. I follow them, moving as fast as my right leg could possibly carry me.

….

"No…" I murmur sadly at the sight before me.

After wandering through several dark hallways littered with corpses, I reach an emergency exit. I make out the body of a familiar girl, horribly mutilated and laying in a pool of blood. Nearby are the remains of some kind of monsters.

"_It was her decision, Aigis. This was not your fault."_ Ellie urged me to move on.

But I do not look away. "If I had known to use my Persona sooner…this would not have happened."

"_You had no way of knowing. She will be fine after we have resolved this situation."_

"I could have done more." It is uncharacteristic of me to say something like that. Never once has my confidence wavered until today.

"_The only person truly in danger is Nara Hishikawa. The rest of you, as a result of being transported here through data manipulation, will return to your own reality regardless of whether we succeed or not. Surely you have realized this by now."_

"Yes, I know." I finally look away and keep moving forward. I nearly trip over a broken sword that I failed to notice. It must have been used to hold the emergency exit doors closed. "However, this is concerning. If something like this were to happen to my friends…" I trail off. I do not want to think about it.

"_You would be able to protect them; Though this may not sound like much coming from an artificial intelligence such as myself, you are strong, Aigis. Nara Hishikawa would not have had you watch his back if he doubted you. He trusts you more than any other person in all the realities he has ever visited."_

"That's…" I find myself at a loss for words. Slowly, a small smile starts forming on my face. "I will find him. I am sorry Ellie, please continue to guide me."

"_Of course."_

After navigating several hallways and stairs, I hear a rumbling as I make my way towards a massive hole in the wall in front of me. I inch forward slowly, prepared to call forth my Persona at the first sign of danger.

"_Nara Hishikawa is still in combat, 15 meters ahead." _

"Acknowledged. Initiating summoning sequence." I ready my most powerful attack as I enter through the hole.

…..

**Chapter 17 β:** **A Limit I Cannot Surpass (Nara)**

"Damn you!" I bolt out of the way of another massive swing from the Tyrant.

I've been deliberately leaving openings so that the Tyrant would attack me. That worked out perfectly, if my goal was to get the living hell beaten out of me. I've eaten enough punches to make a knuckle sandwich platter.

My legs are struggling to stand firm. I abruptly start coughing uncontrollably. I cover my mouth instinctively, and I feel blood rising up my throat and out of my mouth. I'm surprised that I'm still able to move effortlessly after being hit with such force so many times.

The Tyrant gives me no time to rest. It charges at me with a ferocious body check.

"I'm across!" I hear Hisao's voice calling me from a large distance away. "You're all clear, so kill that thing with everything you've got!"

It's too bad all I have left is tantamount to almost nothing.

"Easy for you to say!" I shout back as I teleport to a marked kunai knife behind the Tyrant. The tyrant smashes into the rubble in front of him, completely crumbling it.

As I do, I feel a sudden wave of exhaustion assaulting me. I fall to my knees as if pulled down to the ground by a thousand hands. My entire body feels heavy, and I feel as though I hadn't slept for days. I struggle to keep my eyes open.

"Damn…it…Ellie…what's…going…" I can hardly even speak coherently now.

"_You've overused your abilities. Your stamina is in the negatives now. Hang on, I will rectify this."_

Thanks for the stupid video game analogy. I'm so drowsy…

I see a giant fist approaching my head as my vision darkens. I hear someone calling my name.

The last thing I hear is a female voice shouting something indiscernible, and the last thing I see is a flash of light.

…

Ngh…Groggy…and my whole body feels likes crap…

I wake up because I'm constantly being shaken up and down. I feel gravity's pull on my head, legs and arms. There's something hard pressed against my stomach, and intense heat assaults my body.

I open my eyes slowly. I think I lost my headband somewhere because I can see out of both eyes. Everything appears to be upside down. At the center of my rather blurry vision is a curvy white object. Some badly damaged golden metal armour pieces adorn the sides of the object. I make out an inverted pair of grimy white mechanical legs furnished with golden plating, connected to black joints and attached near the top of the curves. They're moving at a limping pace.

What I am looking at right now, is without a doubt…Aigis's butt. Yes, I am staring at Aigis's butt. But the question is why am I staring at her butt? Wasn't she supposed to be dead? Or whatever the term for androids is?

"What happened to me…?" I finally managed to squeeze something coherent out of my throat.

"Hishikawa-san, you are awake!" I could hear Aigis's muffled but relieved voice speaking from what seemed like some distance away. "Please, wait one moment!"

I heard the sound of flesh being sliced, then the sound of several bodies being thrown around and hitting concrete. I hear the crackling of fire as well. As I try to raise my head, I see something with a spear and shield. It eviscerates zombies near it and ignites their bodies with several giant fireballs.

"I got him!"

I'm suddenly pulled away from Aigis's shoulder by someone and quickly carried up a flight of stairs in a firefighter carry position. Shortly afterwards I'm set down gently against some rubble. My vision is still hazy, but I think that was Hisao.

"Hey, look at me man. How many fingers am I holding?" Hisao raises some fingers and holds his hand in front of my face.

I count six…? Well whatever. I raise my right hand and my middle finger towards Hisao as a response, smirking a little bit. I'm currently still rather disoriented but I think I will live.

"He's fine!" Hisao calls out to Aigis, his tone clearly conveying exasperation. He offers me his hand.

I find that if you blink several times when your vision is blurry, it'll clear up faster. I do so. But my left eye regains perfect vision much faster. Probably because it's programmed to always give perfect vision. I'll need my headband back though. My left eye's vision is treated the same as an ability by the System. I can expect to collapse suddenly again if I'm not careful.

I take Hisao's hand and he pulls me back to my feet. I am unsteady as I get back up and I nearly fall. Hisao uses his arms to prop me up and support me.

"On second thought, you're not okay at all. Haha…" Hisao seems to feel uncomfortable about physical contact with me. Not surprising after what happened in the sewers.

"I love you too my friend…" I roll my eyes but hang onto Hisao even more tightly. I don't think I can stand on my own.

"I have exterminated all enemies." Aigis comes trotting up the stairs, holding my headband. She looks like she's barely standing as well. Actually, she looks even worse than me. I can see exposed machinery and wires all over her body. Her armour is more or less destroyed. And despite all of that, she came to my aid. She must've overworked herself for sure.

"Aigis, you have no idea how happy I am to see you." I laugh breathlessly. I open my arms and embrace Aigis, holding her close to me like a precious treasure. I turn my head away as a few tears stream down my cheeks.

"Hishikawa-san…!" Aigis is startled, clearly taken aback. I think Minato was the only person she would ever do this with. Really, I have no right to do this; it's just that I'm overjoyed beyond all words. I fully expect her to push me away.

But to my surprise, Aigis slowly places her arms around me and gently pats me on the back.

"You should thank Ellie. She guided me here after I came to. I would not have been able to do anything without her." Her voice is kind and soothing like an angel's.

"_Oh, do not worry about that. I have only saved his life about a million times. One more does not matter too much."_

"Ellie, you little son of a..." I smile unconsciously. "You knew she was fine all this time and didn't say anything to me."

"_I did not want to distract you."_ Ellie's tone was uncharacteristically haughty. She sounded like she was proud.

I release Aigis, and ask Aigis the question that's been on my mind since she reappeared. "How did you beat that Tyrant? Even I was no match for one."

"I discovered that I could use my Persona." As if on cue, Pallas Athena appears behind Aigis. The Persona twirls its spear once and fades away. "Ending the fight was no challenge."

So that's how she did it. It makes sense now. I had forgotten to tell Aigis that she could use her Persona while she was here because I panicked too much. Certainly, a Persona is more than a match for a Tyrant. If only I could use mine without passing out from the summoning…

"Well…this is a limit that I can't surpass." I grit my teeth and bit, exhaling audibly. I step away from Aigis, taking my headband and putting back on to cover my left eye. I immediately proceed to fall back onto Hisao for support. He gives me an annoyed glance, but, you know, I'd feel awkward asking Aigis to do that for me.

Once again, I am reminded that the System limits you. The more God-like powers you attempt to use, the more physically taxing the power is. I've stress tested this with Ellie before. An ability that lets you decimate large areas of land will leave you feeling like you've climbed mountains for a day without pause. Anything equivalent to that, whether it is flying or teleporting or some other utility ability, will result in the same thing. I can only surmise even more powerful abilities like the planet-devastating Enuma Elish would be a user's last action before a forced disconnection from the System due to death.

"This doesn't make sense." Hisao finally allows me to lean on him for support as I speak. "I know our maximum number of uses of the Flying Thunder God Technique is at least 50. How did I burn out?"

"_In case you have failed to notice, you have not slept properly at all since you arrived here. Not to mention the one time we rested you did not obtain any sustenance." _There's something I really didn't want to hear at this moment, and that would be it. Ellie's scolding me. _"Your capacity is not even 25% of our stress tested maximum."_

"Well fuck it all, because that means if I tried to use my Persona I'd be dead." I can hardly keep my frustration in check. Look at us right now. Aigis looks like she can't take another hit, and I can't use any of my abilities freely. As for Hisao, there is only so much he can do when Aigis and I are liabilities.

"For now, we need to rest." Aigis gives the only sensible suggestion. "I do not know what we may encounter if we proceed. It would be wise to recuperate from our injuries."

"But we're so close right now." I look towards the tram exit to my right. "If we get over there right now we can end all of this."

"As they say, do not worry." Aigis motions for Hisao and I to sit down on a nearby bench. "You should think carefully rather than rush recklessly into danger."

"_She is right you know."_ Ellie brings up an interface for me, showing me the extent of both of my own and Aigis's injuries. _"I find it a scientific marvel that you did not suffer any life-threatening injuries from that fight. However, the fact that you coughed up blood and are badly bruised mean that you need time to recover."_

Now that you mention it, my body hurts a lot. I can still taste blood in my throat too…

"Okay, fine, we'll do it your way Aigis." I chuckle and let Hisao lower me onto the bench. "You're cool with this, Hisao?"

"Well, unlike you I've still got a girlfriend to find." Hisao has a restless expression. "But I can't just ditch you either. So I guess I'm cool with it."

"By the way, Hishikawa-san, I found Fujioka-san on my way here. But there was nothing I could do for her. I am truly sorry." Aigis sits down next to me, looking dejected.

Hisao gives me a regretful look. I make a face as well. "Haruhi shouldn't have been forced to do what she did. We'll make them pay. Whoever's responsible will get what's coming to them. Don't you worry Aigis, I'm already very, very happy that you agreed to come help me in my time of need."

We all fall silent. There's nothing more to say. Once we've had some rest, we're going to the access point. We'll make everything right.

And then, I've got a score to settle with a douchebag who doesn't care about the lives of others.

** …**

"Ellie, give me a status report."

We're standing before a small glowing sphere just a bit beyond the tram station. I am still using Hisao as my walking stick at the moment. Ellie said this sphere the access point, but she's taking an awfully long time re-establishing connection.

Ellie is speechless. Before I could prompt her to say anything, she speaks in a puzzled tone.

"_I do not understand. I cannot make contact with null space. Something is creating static noise and interfering with my attempts at reconnection."_

I shake my head rapidly. "I'm gonna need more than that if you want me to help."

"_I was not counting on your help to begin with."_ I don't think Ellie is able to express scorn, but I could feel it in her word choice. _"I conducted an analysis just now. I am detecting some kind of reality altering presence. The presence is faint, but most definitely interfering with my functions."_

I raise an eyebrow. "Another user's work?"

"_It certainly is possible. I am unsure as we have not encountered another user before."_

"What does this mean?" Aigis inquires anxiously.

"It means we still have a problem: either an enemy or an unforeseen anomaly." Either another user's fucking with us, or someone I invited to my experiment has powers equal or greater in scale than the Reality Projection System.

"_If that is the case, I believe I may have found our problem."_ Ellie brings up an interface for me. It has a still image of some high-school aged girls wearing sailor uniforms. _"Do you recall these individuals? The ones that Itsuki Koizumi invited?"_

"Yeah..." I recognized the one with the orange hairband. "She's Koizumi's friend…part of their club or something. Don't know her too well though; I wasn't even that tight with Koizumi. He's just a junior high school friend of mine. Well okay, I made myself junior high school age and attended his school but…"

"_Here is the interesting part. I filtered out every individual who has supernatural powers. No one we knew from before has any kind of reality-warping ability. Now, everyone in this club Koizumi is in except for the one named Kyon has a latent superpower, including Koizumi."_

"That doesn't make sense." I scratch my head because this contradicts my own memory. "Koizumi never had any powers to begin with. I made sure of that."

"_Well he does now. That is not the point. This individual named Haruhi Suzumiya? I analyzed her just now as well."_

"Ellie, can you get to the point?" Hisao was very irate. "I'm tired of holding this dead weight."

I kick Hisao's shin in response. Who are you calling dead weight?

"_My analysis was inconclusive. That should only happen when attempting to analyze supernatural phenomenon that my processors are incapable of handling."_

An ominous silence falls over us. After about ten seconds, Aigis is the first to say something.

"So then." Aigis carefully examines Haruhi's appearance, committing it to memory it seems. "She is not human?"

"_Incorrect. From what I can gather from my analysis into her reality, it seems she is a human who has the power to subconsciously alter reality however she wants. By subconscious, I mean that she causes changes without intention or knowledge of her powers."_

Slowly, comprehension seeps into my brain. A thin smile finds its way to my lips. "Meaning she's our culprit."

"_I have been attempting to scan for the presence of another user, but it appears my sensors are experiencing severe interference. That possibility also cannot be ignored."_

"Alright Hisao, you can set me down again. Guess our break is going into overtime." I slowly shift my weight off Hisao and sit down on the floor.

"So? What's our plan?" Hisao sits down across from me, and Aigis follows suit.

"Well, given what we know, our best option is to find Haruhi Suzumiya. This is the part where it gets tricky though. We have two choices once we do. Choice one, we kill her." I take off my headband and look Hisao straight in the eye to show him that I'm serious. "I'm not a big fan of choice one. As a matter of fact, I greatly despise the thought of it. But we might not have another choice if we want to get everyone back."

"You can't be serious." Hisao winced and made a terrified face. "I didn't think you'd be capable of something like that."

"It's easy when I know they're going to be fine. But this time I have no guarantee it will work. In fact, if it turns out we're wrong, we'll be back at square one."

"_I hate to the bearer of bad news, but it could be worse than that. If her powers become completely uncontained, it could erase the existence of everyone here. I am warning you now that the System cannot protect you from that. No trace of any of us, including me, will remain."_

A chill passes through the air as Ellie informs us of the grave consequences should we misstep. I can't force that upon anyone here. This was my fuck-up. Aigis, Hisao, Hanako, Kenji, Haruhi, Shana, and everyone else shouldn't have to pay the price for my mistake.

I shudder at the thought of facing a fate worse than death. I know what it's like to almost die. I've experienced it for real and within the System. But this scares me far more than something like being torn apart by Lickers. I want to curl up in a ball and pretend the world doesn't exist right now.

"Okay, thanks Ellie." My breathing almost slows to a stop. "So…haha…choice two is a long shot too. We need to find the person who has my Magical Defense Barrier. If we can get that and find Haruhi, I can negate her powers completely. That will give Ellie a chance to fix things."

"Hold on." Aigis's concerned interjection interrupts me. "If her powers are so grand in scale, how can you be sure that this plan will work?"

"_Our Magical Defense Barrier completely removes the concept of the supernatural. It is a small-scale Overlaying which overwrites a reality through the System's functions. Do not ask me how it works, as I myself do not know."_

"Aigis, basically the System is supernatural in origin, just like your Plume of Dusk. It merges technology with phenomenon unexplainable by science." I want her to understand that she can trust me on this.

"I see. Sorry, please continue." Aigis nods her head, but she still looks like she's contemplating something.

"_Since the concept itself is removed, no individual has access to their superpowers while under the effects of the Magical Defense Barrier. Nara Hishikawa and I have already tested this with several divine weapons. Not even a God or Demon is able to resist the barrier's effects."_

Ea wouldn't start rotating to synchronize with the Heavens, Excalibur was no more than an indestructible sword, and my Persona would not appear when evoked. This Magical Defense Barrier is both my greatest asset and greatest handicap. The only exceptions to ability negation are superhuman strength, agility, and reflexes. Even if I tried to fight a God, I'd lose because all my useful abilities are negated.

I nod to reassure myself for now. "I say we stick to choice two. Hell, if we're forced to go to choice one, it might be better to kill me instead. At least then your existences won't be in jeopardy."

Hisao shakes his head at me. "Let's not think about that until we have to, okay? Promise me that."

Reluctantly, I nod. "So Ellie, can you tell me who has the Magical Defense Barrier ability?"

"_Yes, of course. That would be Shizune Hakamichi."_

Fuck…my…life….

"Guess we're going after her then. Good grief." I mutter angrily.

"You really don't like her huh?" Hisao chuckles to himself. "I think you two just got off on the wrong foot."

"Does turning me into a human pretzel count as wrong foot? I think that's a bit too extreme!"

Hisao shrugs at me and says "Hey! You had it coming, bro."

"Psht." I sneered at Hisao and quickly replace my headband. I look away to avoid making eye contact.

"Did something happen between you two?" Aigis looks at me, her eyes filled with curiosity.

"Please, let's not-" I begin.

"I'll tell you later, Aigis." Hisao snickers while wearing a huge grin. "You don't want to miss this."

"Oh hell no!" I point a finger at Hisao. My hand shakes with anger. "No! No! You stop that!"

Unfortunately for me, Hisao only seems to derive more amusement from my reaction. I'll start getting along with Shizune once hell freezes over. But until then, I guess we have our next objective.

…

**To be continued…**


End file.
